Tomorrow May Never Come
by snowsann
Summary: AU. Chloe hasn't been happy since her father had passed away. She couldn't love or smile anymore. There was always chaos at home. Her grandmother always fought with her mother. Everything about Chloe's life sucked. Untill a girl named Beca moved to their neighbourhood.. Will she be able to change everything, or make it worse? /This Bechloe fic is based on a Bollywood movie.
1. Chapter 1

**_So, this is my very first fic.. like ever! I would love to know what you think about it. If you have suggestions, let me know! Also, English is not my native language, so the spelling or grammer might be incorrect sometimes. Sorry about that, I'm trying my best! Enjoy._**

New York.. One of the biggest cities in de world. Every breath of the city, every heartbeat is filled with speed. People are always in a hurry there. In a hurry to leave home. In a hurry to reach the office. Always in a hurry to be a step or two ahead of life. There is no place for anyone who can't cope there.

This city taught her to be independent. It taught her to fulfil her responsibilities. Taught her to face life.. but couldn't teach her to love. When was the time?

Whenever she watched the city from her usual spot, she felt her father closer. Whenever she missed him, she went to that same spot and cried to herself.

Just like now.

She is Chloe Beale, and this is a her story. The story of a 25 year old redhead. A beautiful redhead with heart-shaped lips and deep blue eyes.

Blue eyes, just like her father's.

After her father passed away, the entire responsibility of the family fell on Jennifer, her mother. But she never allowed them to ever feel the burden of her sorrows.

Chloe lives with her mother, grandmother, little brother Benji and her little step sister Lily. Ever since her father passed away; her grandmother, Jennifer's mother-in-law, treated Jennifer and Lily as if they were nothing. She only seemed to like Chloe and Benji.

….

"Mom, I'm home!" Chloe yelled, walking through the door. She saw a pile of red hair tower over the back of the couch. The same wavy red hair as Chloe.

Jennifer quickly wiped away her tears. "Where were you?" she asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Central Park." Chloe said.

"Central Park? Why?" Jennifer asked.

"To meet someone."

Jennifer turned around to look at her daughter. "Who?!" she asked.

"My prince charming on a beautiful white horse" the younger woman smirked.

"God, Chloe. For a moment I thought you finally had a date." Jennifer said, turning back to the television.

Chloe laughed and picked up a stack of mail on the table. "Bills, bills, bills… Private & confidential?" she frowned.

Jennifer jumped up and grabbed the envelope out of her daughter's hands. "That's mine." She said.

Chloe raised an eyebrow but continued to look through the mail. "What is this? It's Amy's mail again. When will the mailman understand that we are Beale with an 'A' and she is Beele with an 'E'? He always…" she suddenly stopped talking when she looked into her mother's eyes for the first time since she walked in. "Have you been crying?" she asked.

"No, _you _have been crying." Jennifer said.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "No, mom." They both lied to each other, like every day.

Chloe continued to look through the mail again. "Marriage bureau? Mom, what is this?" she frowned.

"Why don't you ask your grandmother?" Jennifer said coldly. "It must be a new plan to find you a husband. You know how old fashioned and religious she is."

"But I don't even want to get married. Why doesn't Grams leave me alone?" Chloe said furiously. She hated the way her grandmother always tried to find her a husband, as if she was going to get married to someone she doesn't even know.

"Why doesn't she just _leave." _Jennifer grinned.

"Mom!" Chloe said, poking her mother. "Where is she anyway?" she asked.

"It's almost 8 o'clock." Jennifer winked, laughing.

Chloe's grandmother always started praying at 8 o'clock. Not praying with her eyes closed and hands together like everyone else, but she would pray out loud. More like singing it, actually. They wouldn't mind if she could actually sing, but she was horrible. Her name, by the way, is Iris. She has 2 different dreams. First, that Chloe gets married to a nice man. Second, that Jennifer dies..

"Grams! Stop it!" Chloe yelled to her grandmother.

"Oh God, you interrupted my prayers, don't you have shame?!" Iris said, looking worried as if Chloe was about to get punished out of nowhere.

"Don't _you _have shame?" Chloe said angrily. "What's this!" she held the envelope in front of her grandmother's face.

Iris took the envelope from Chloe. "Oh look, they sent pictures! All three of them are so good-looking." She said, pointing at the pictures with 3 bearded men.

"Three?" Chloe said, confused. "They all look the same!"

"No, my child. They are different." Iris said.

"Whatever Grams, I'm not interested in marrying anyone." Chloe tried to explain.

"If you don't get married, how will you have children?" The old woman said.

"I can have children, there is no need to get married for that." Chloe laughed, as her grandmother's eyes shot wide open.

…

Chloe walked into her siblings' room to find Benji watching a basketball game and Lily playing with her doll house.

Benji is 11 and has a handicap. He couldn't play basketball like his friends, but he could be as annoying as the other boys. He's a little chubby and wears glasses.

"Benji, turn off the TV!" Chloe shouted. "Whenever I come here, it's always basketball!"

"Just because I can't play, doesn't mean I can't watch." Benji pouted.

Chloe poked him in his chest. "Don't get cute with me, hurry up." She walked towards her step sister. "Lily, help your brother.

Lily was adopted, which is probably why Iris hated her. She is 7 and has dark brown hair, but the same blue eyes as Chloe.

"Chloe, did you see my new dolls?" the little girl said. "This is mommy, this is you, this is Benji, this is me and.." She was about to point at a doll with grey hair as Iris walked in.

"Oh, you're awake!" She smiled at Benji, sitting next to him on his bed. "Looking so good like Heri Putter."

"Harry Potter grandma, it's Harry Potter." He said, pushing his glasses up his nose with his finger.

"Harry, Heri, it's the same." She said.

Lily got up. "Good morning grandma!" She said, smiling at the old woman.

Iris waved her hand at Lily without turning around to look at her, giving all her attention to Benji.

Lily's smile disappeared. She turned back to her doll house and took the grey haired doll away from her perfect family.

….

Chloe was going to meet Amy at Starbucks.

As she walked in, Amy was already ordering.

Amy saw the redhead approaching her. "Hi!" She said. "One minute"

She turned back to the cashier. "Okay, make that 2 glaced doughnuts, 2 blueberry muffins and 2 chocolate frappechinos." She turned to Chloe again. "And what will you have?" she said. Chloe looked surprised. She thought Amy was ordering for both of them, though she should've known better by now. Amy had two problems. The weight she never loses, and the fact that she never feels sad about it.

"One double expresso, please." Chloe finally said.

"Here's your letter. It came to our house again." Chloe said, handing over the envelope. "

Amy grabbed the envelope and started to read the letter inside of it. "Oh wow, Chloe! Blind date application." She said, smiling at the letter. "It's so cool. You just fill in a form, describing the guy of your choice. Write something about yourself. They match the details and bingo, you get the guy!"

"Wow!" Chloe said sarcastically. "And what have you written about yourself?"

"Well, I have written the truth." Amy said, feeling confident.

"What did you write?" Chloe repeated.

"That I'm the hottest model from Tasmania." Amy said. "And that I look like Pamela Anderson from far."

"And up close, like Pamela Anderson's house." Chloe laughed, but realized that her friend wasn't even listening anymore. Instead, she was staring at some guy with his headphones on and his hands in his pockets standing against the wall.

"Just look at him. He's so cute!" Amy said.

"No, Amy, Look at me.." Chloe tried to say something, but Amy cut her off.

"I see you every day Chlo, look at _him_, he's so cute!"

"Shut up! Boys, boys, boys.. That's all you are interested in." Chloe yelled at the blonde. "What will happen? You will get the boy you want.. he will sleep with you, maybe even get you pregnant, and then he will leave you and go away. What will you do then?! Huh?" Chloe asked.

"Find another guy, what else?" Amy answered.

Chloe slapped her palm against her forehead. "Forget it, just forget it.."

….

Chloe was waiting outside in the rain next to a statue with an umbrella. A statue of a bull. This statue has always been the meeting point of her and her best friend, because it was the exact centre between their houses and close to her best friend's job.

"Chloe!" a blonde woman yelled while running towards the redhead, soaking wet from the rain.

Aubrey Posen. 26. Blonde hair and green eyes. Her parents owned a company and were one of the richest people she knew. Aubrey lived alone though.

How they know each other? For the last one year they have been studying in the evening MBA classes together.

"Hey Bre!" Chloe said, lifting her arm for the blonde to link it with hers so they could fit under the umbrella. "How was your weekend?"

"It was pretty good." Aubrey said, smiling. "Bumper and I.. In the same room.. on the same bed… all weekend." The blonde chuckled.

Chloe's eyes shot wide open, even though she knew Bumper was Aubrey's dog.

"Oh, please" Chloe said, disgusted.

"What?" Aubrey smiled. "It was a very relaxing weekend! Just what I needed"

**_Okay.. That's it for today ! It's almost 2am, and I have to get up for school tomorrow._**

**_Anyway.. I know not much happened in this chapter, because It was meant for introducing the characters. And I know, Beca hasn't been mentioned yet. Patience! :) _**


	2. Chapter 2

As Chloe and Aubrey took a seat in their class, the blonde pulled out a black diary and started writing things in it. She always had this diary with her, wherever she went. The redhead always wondered what the blonde wrote about, but never bothered to ask about it. She didn't want to push her best friend to tell her things she didn't want to talk about.

The first time they met, Chloe didn't like her at all. Mostly because the blonde always wanted to be on top and control everything, so nothing went the way she didn't want to. But today, the redhead really liked her. Aubrey was a nice person and a very good friend who made her forget all the problems she had back home.

"I have a date tonight." Aubrey said suddenly, looking more scared than happy.

Chloe looked up from her textbook. "With who? And why do you look like you just saw some old man's butt?"

The blonde chuckled at what her friend just said. "It's a long story, where do I start?

The redhead put down her pen and turned around to listen to her friend more closely, wondering what this was all about. "Start from the very beginning, I'm listening." She smiled.

"Well, there is this new guy at work. He's so good-looking and always smiles at me when I pass by." Aubrey began. The redhead nodded, listening carefully. "I didn't have the guts to go and start a conversation with him, I'm never good at that." She continued. "Then I heard someone call him Ashley. I was happy that I got his name! I opened the employers registry on the computer to find his number. Luckily there was only one Ashley, so it wasn't hard to find." She closed her eyes feeling embarrassed about what she was about to tell.

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows at the blonde's actions. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Aubrey opened her eyes. "I'm going to tell you, have patience." The blonde smiled before continuing her story. "So I got his number and took a deep breath before texting him. I wrote: _Hi, It's Aubrey. I have been seeing you passing by a couple of times and I just wanted to say that I like you and I would like to get to know you better. I was afraid of your reaction, so I decided to text you. I hope you don't mind that and that you feel the same way. Text me back soon."_

"Wow, that's desperate." Chloe chuckled.

"Oh, please don't make me feel worse!" Aubrey said, covering her face with her hands.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Continue." The redhead said, sitting up straight and forcing herself to look serious.

Aubrey shook her head, smiling. "Anyway. A few minutes later I got a text back saying:_ Wow_, _I never knew you were interested in me. Your text made me so happy, you have no idea! How about dinner at 8? _So I was about to text back, but I got another message. I opened it and read: _Since when do you like women though?  
_

Chloe's eyes were wide open. "What the…. Was he a woman?"

Aubrey laughed. "No! let me finish." She said. The redhead nodded.

"I was confused as well. I was going to text what he meant, but then I suddenly realized there was another Ashley working there. She's from another department, that's why I totally forgot about her. So it turned out the male Ashley wasn't even registered yet because he's new, which is why there was only one Ashley on the list. I wished I could die right there. Why didn't I have the guts to go talk to him!"

"Oh my god! What did you do after that?" Chloe asked.

"That's the problem. She was so happy, I couldn't break her heart so I texted: _I'm not really interested in women in general. I just realized I liked you, and I would like to get to know you. Just to see where this goes. Dinner sounds good. _And that's how I got a date.

Chloe started to laugh. "That's just great! Who could've thought that _the _Aubrey Posen would go on a date with a woman! Can I hide somewhere to take pictures?"

"What's wrong with that? I'm not a homophobe, you know. The date might actually go well, who knows." Aubrey said, arrogantly. "And no, you can't."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Wow, really? Well that's something new! Can't wait to know every detail!"

"If you promise to keep this between us!" Aubrey warned.

"Sure, don't worry." Chloe said and turned back to her textbook.

Aubrey smiled and opened hers as well.

…..

Lily and Benji were playing in the living room, when Lily accidently bumped into her brother making him fall. Iris jumped up and slapped the little girl in the face before helping the boy get up. "Are you alright, my son? I hope you are not hurt!"

"I'm sorry, grandma" Lily cried.

The old woman turned back to the little girl. "What sorry? Can't you watch where you walk? What if my Benji had got hurt!" she yelled, shaking the girl.

"Have you lost your mind! She's just a child!" Jennifer shouted, taking the girl away from the old woman.

Iris looked up. "A child? You have spoilt her!" She said angrily. "It's her duty to take care of her brother and.."

Jennifer cut her off. "And it's _your_ duty to forgive, not to raise your hand!" she yelled.

"I haven't been able to forgive you, so who's she?" Iris said.

"Forgive _me_? What have_ I_ done?!" Jennifer frowned.

"Forget it." Iris said, looking away.

Jennifer tilted her head to look at the old woman. "No I won't forget it. Tell me, what did I ever do wrong?" she said sternly

"Just shut up already!" The old woman said.

"You always say the same things, just blurt it out! I'd like to know!" Jennifer said, throwing her arms in the air.

Iris poked the other woman in the collarbone "It's because of _you _that my son.."

"That's enough!" Chloe cut her off. The two women were so busy fighting, they didn't see her at the door.

Chloe walked in as silence fell.

The fact that was known all these years, but never spoken about was mentioned today. The fact that her father's death was not incidental. He had taken his own life. He committed suicide.

The old woman looked down. "The truth is always bitter." She said.

Jennifer turned around. "No one knows the truth. Not even you." She responded before taking the children upstairs.

She sat down on Lily's bed as the little girl climbed up her lap and Benji sat down next to her.

"Stop crying, sweetheart. It's going to be okay." She said, wiping away a tuft of hair from the little girl's face.

"She hates me." Lily cried.

Jennifer hugged her tight. "No darling, she doesn't hate you." She whispered. "She's just angry now. Everything will be alright."

"When will everything be alright, mommy?" Benji asked.

Jennifer reached out her arm to pull him closer and stroke through his hair. "You know, when I was young I used to cry over every little thing. My mother used to tell me that someday, we will find an angel who will wipe all our tears away." She said, tears running down her face. "Our angel will come and give us lots of happiness."

"When will our angel come?" Lily said, sadly.

"All we can do now, is to believe that our angel will come very soon." Jennifer responded. "We've shed enough tears."

Chloe walked in with red eyes and tear stained cheeks. She had been listening to their conversation from outside the room.

Jennifer looked up, wiping her tears away. The redhead walked over to sit next to them, closing her eyes and lifting her hands. "Dear god, I'm not as religious as Grams, but if you're up there and if you're listening, please bring some light into these dark times.. a little light." She said as the others joined her.

Suddenly, the lights in the house from across the street went on as a tiny woman walked up the balcony stretching her arms. A tiny, but beautiful woman. Her long brown hair rested on her shoulders, hiding her ears filled with a lot of earrings and a spike. Tattoos covering some parts of her skin and headphones resting around her neck. She noticed the group of people in the house from across the street, eyes closed and hands lifted. She looked up at the dark and starry sky, smiling.

"Seems like a peaceful neighbourhood, Beca." She whispered to herself.

_**Aaandd, that's it for today! from now on, i hope on making the chapters a little longer !  
Thanks for reading !**_


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning all the gloomy clouds that were hovering over the city had disappeared. Instead, the sun smiled on all of them. Children playing on the streets, teenage boys hanging around on the benches and teenage girls deliberately passing by. The weather hadn't been this nice for a while, so everyone was enjoying it to the fullest.

Benji and Lily were sitting on their porch. Benji was watching a group of teenagers play basketball while the little girl was taking care of her baby doll.

"Hello boy, hello girl, and hello doll." A tiny brunette smiled as she sat down next to the two children.

Benji looked at the woman. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he frowned.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. My name is Beca.. Hello." She said, reaching out her hand to greet the little boy. He crossed his arms across his chest, not taking the brunette's hand.

"Mommy told us not to talk to strangers." Lily said.

Beca turned around to smile at the little girl. "Ahh, see. I'm not really a stranger, I live there." She said, pointing at the house on the other side of the street.

"Wrong. That's where mister Jesse lives." Benji said.

"I know, he is my best friend. I moved in yesterday and I'm sharing the house with him." The brunette smiled.

An awful noise suddenly interrupted them. Beca cringed, looking around to see where it comes from when Benji tapped the brunette on her shoulder to make her look at him before putting his hand back on his ear again. "That's our grandmother! She's praying." He said.

Beca raised her eyebrows. "Oh god, I'm so sorry for you. I'll try to do something about it." She said, standing up and walking over to the street to get a good sight of the house.

"Hey grandma! Grandma! Over here!" She yelled to the open window, jumping up and down, waving her hands. The old woman stuck her head through the window, searching for the person that interrupted her prayers.

"Hey there, Jennifer Lopez." Beca exclaimed, making Benji and Lily laugh.

Iris looked at the tiny brunette. "What do you want? I was praying to God!" she yelled, annoyed that her prayers had been interrupted again.

"You were not praying to him, you were torturing him! You are also ruining these children's faith in music, so please don't sing." Beca pouted, putting her hands together.

"And who are you to say those things to me?" Iris said sternly.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I forgot to introduce myself." The brunette smiled. "I'm Beca Mitchell, your new neighbour and Jesse's friend."

"Jesse's friend? Do you live together?" Iris asked, looking at the girl disapprovingly.

"Well not _together _together, but yes." Beca stated.

A taller man with brown hair and brown eyes walked out of the house to stand next to Beca. "Good morning Iris, don't mind my friend. She can be mischievous sometimes." he said, nudging the brunette.

"No Jesse, I'm serious." Beca said, turning back to the old woman. "Listen, if you are so fond of singing, I will come and teach…."

"What's going on here? What's this noise so early in the morning!" Chloe interrupted the brunette, sticking her head through another window.

Beca turned her head to look at the person who interrupted her, but stiffened when she saw Chloe. Her red hair was shining brightly in the sunlight, her deep blue eyes sparkling like diamonds, furrowing her eyebrows with anger, yet looking incredibly cute. The most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Beca let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, wanting to say something, but the words couldn't find their way to her lips. She only managed to bring her hand to her chest to feel her own heartbeat. Everything else seemed to fade away. She couldn't see or hear anything else. Her heart started to beat even faster when Chloe looked at her with confusion on her face, asking what the brunette was looking at. Beca didn't say anything. She just kept staring and smiling sheepishly till the redhead went back inside. "Red." She mumbled to herself, finally being able to speak again.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Jesse asked

"What? No, I didn't say anything." She responded before running back home, leaving Jesse clueless about what just happened.

Jesse apologized to the old woman and was about to head back home as well when he suddenly heard really loud music. He looked around, but realized it came out of his house. Everybody stopped with whatever they were doing, whispering to each other with confusion on their faces as a mix of _'What's your name' _and '_Red' _was filling the air. Jesse shook his head, smirking as he sat down on his porch, enjoying the music and confused faces around him.

It didn't take long for everyone else to loosen up and enjoy the music as well. Everyone except Chloe that is. She dropped her head on her textbook and covered her ears with her hands. Feeling annoyed, she got up and walked out of the door only to see the whole neighbourhood partying outside.

She made her way to where her mother was standing, seeing a smile play at the woman's lips. The redhead folded her arms across her chest and furrowed her eyebrows, watching her step sister dance to the music.

_Ey girl, what's your name? Baby what's your number?_

_'Cause girl you got me, got a brother wondering_

_If you want a homie and a lover_

_I can be your friend till the end._

_Loving her was red. _

_I'm going crazy_

_Burning red_

_Cause I wanna know if I can love ya_

_Darling it was red!_

Chloe paid attention to the lyrics for the first time, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks but still managing to keep a stern face.

Beca came back outside as soon as the song ended, enjoying all the cheering and amused faces around her. Lily excitedly ran up to her and hugger the brunette. "That was fun!"

"Lily, come here!" Chloe shouted, getting the attention of the other woman as well.

Beca lifted the little girl up and made her way to the redhead and her mother.

"Hello, I'm Beca." She smiled, reaching out her hand.

"I know, everyone kind of heard it this morning." Jennifer laughed, shaking her hand.

"I didn't know Jesse had such a beautiful neighbour." Beca shot out.

"What?!" Chloe frowned angrily.

"I was talking about your mother." The brunette smiled. "Jennifer right? You are a very beautiful woman"

"Yes, Jennifer. Thank you." She grinned, blushing.

"Okay, let's see. This is Benji." The brunette gestured at the boy. "And this my sweetheart Lily." She continued, putting the girl down. "And you are?" she said, looking at the redhead.

"Not interested." Chloe replied.

"I can see that on your face." Beca smirked. "Anyway, nice to meet the rest of you.

"Nice to meet you too." Jennifer smiled. "I saw so much life in our street for the first time today."

"I know. It's kind of a boring street." The brunette cringed. "But don't worry. Now that I'm here, everything is going to change." She said confidently.

Jennifer couldn't help but smile at this younger woman who seemed so full of life. Anyone would feel happy around her.

Beca quirked an eyebrow and smiled at Chloe. "Just one thing, though. Is she in a bad mood or was she born this way?"

"She has always been like this." Lily shot out, earning herself a light slap on her shoulder by the redhead.

Jennifer shot a warning look at her daughter, motioning that she should watch her attitude and turned back to Beca. "Don't mind her."

"Oh not at all. Must be a childhood problem." She smiled. "I will see you guys at 7!"

"At 7? Why?" Jennifer frowned.

Beca laughed in amusement. "For dinner at your place. I'm your new neighbour, so obviously you will invite us, won't you?"

"Oh, right. Sure!" Jennifer breathed out.

"Actually not 7. Make that 8, because I'm a bit busy." Beca was about to turn around, but stopped for a moment. "By the way. After I go, she will be mad at you for inviting me to dinner. But don't worry, it's a childhood problem." She laughed and walked away.

When they were back inside, Chloe slammed the door shut and turned to her mother. "What was the need to invite her for dinner?"

"Don't act like you weren't there! She invited herself. And I don't even mind, she's seems like a wonderful person, I don't understand why you're acting this way." Jennifer exclaimed.

"I'm inviting Amy and Aubrey too then." Chloe took out her phone and searched through her contact list as she saw Amy through the window, standing at her door with a cream mask on her face.

Chloe opened the door. "I was about to call you. The new girl invited herself for dinner, I want you to come to dinner too."

Amy walked in. "I can't, I have a blind date!"

Iris approached the two women. "A blind date? Is that a date with a blind man?"

"No, blind date means a date with a man who has never seen me." Amy sighed.

"And when he sees you, he will be blinded with shock." Aubrey laughed, standing at the door. "Hi, guys."

"Very funny. Anyway, that's all I had to say. Bye all!" Amy turned around and walked out of the door.

"Bye ball!" Aubrey yelled after her, before walking over to Chloe and pull her in for a hug. Chloe immediately forgot why she was angry. Her best friend always managed to make her forget all her problems. She grabbed the blonde by the waist and dragged her along to her room. "Thanks for stepping by, I was about to call you. You have to stay for dinner."

"Sure, but why all of a sudden?" Aubrey questioned.

"I'll tell you after you tell me how your date went!" Chloe sat down on her bed and tapped the empty space beside her for the blonde to sit down next to her.

"Right. My date." The blonde looked away from the other woman's eyes. "It was nice."

Chloe quirked an eyebrow. "Look at me, what's wrong?"

The blonde looked back up. "Nothing. It was nice. She was nice. We talked a lot and I enjoyed myself more than I expected. And" Aubrey closed her eyes "…and I think I like her." She breathed out.

"You like her?!" Chloe was excited to hear that her best friend liked women, though she didn't know why.

Aubrey smiled at the excitement on her best friend's face, feeling relieved that she took it well. "Yes I do, I'm taking her out for our second date next week." She blushed. "But enough about that, what did you want to tell me?"

"Forget about that! My best friend just told me she likes women, I'm not going to let you change the topic that easily." Chloe smiled playfully.

"It's no big deal. Men or women, it's the personality that counts.

"Sure. I hope she won't turn out to be as annoying as Beca though." Chloe didn't mean to say that, she didn't even know where that came from.

"Who?" Aubrey frowned

"It's Jesse's best friend from across the street. She moved in with him, and invited herself for dinner at our place. Who does that?"

Aubrey raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so that's why you want me to stay for dinner."

"Yes, I just can't stand her. She thinks she knows everything, laughing and joking about stupid things." Chloe was rubbing her fingers against each other.

Aubrey chuckled at the redhead's movements. "Why are you so nervous then?"

"What? I'm not nervous. What are you talking ab…" Aubrey cut her off.

"You always do that when you're nervous." she gestured at the other woman's hands.

Chloe got up. "You're hallucinating. Let's go help my mother getting dinner ready." She said, walking over to her door.

Aubrey sighed, but followed her best friend.

When the two women entered the kitchen, they were met with a tiny brunette wearing an apron.

Beca looked up from the soup she was stirring. "Where were you? Dinner is not going to make itself." She turned to the blonde. "You're a new face. Let me introduce myself, I'm Beca." She smiled.

"I'm Aubrey, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Beca replied before running back to Jennifer. "No Jenny, that's too much salt, let me help you."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked at her best friend. "Jenny? She already nicknamed my mother! Do you see what I mean."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Chlo."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, not you too."

_**A/N: I know im taking things very slow, but im planning on making a long fanfic. So please have patience! **_


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Jess, you are right on time. Dinner is ready!" Beca stepped aside to let Jesse in.

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at the brunette, folding her arms across her chest "Are you going to welcome our guests too now? Whose house is this, yours or mine?"

The shorter woman turned around to face the redhead. "Jenny told me to make myself at home when I got in, so that's what I'm doing." The brunette winked with a smile.

Chloe rolled her eyes and forced a smile on her face. "Welcome Jesse, it's this way." She gestured to the dining room, leading the friends to the dinner table.

Beca helped Jennifer putting the final things on the table and joined the rest as she took a seat in between Jesse and Lily. She couldn't help but notice the sad look on the little girl's face who was watching her grandmother squeeze Benji's cheeks, showering him with love. Beca knew exactly what was going on. She could feel the pain the little girl was feeling as she decided to give her the love the girl longed from the old woman. The brunette gave all her attention to Lily, wanting to make her feel special. It caught Chloe's eye as well, seeing the other woman and her sister sword fighting with their spoons. She smiled inwardly, but a few words close to something like _childish _and _boyish_ left her lips.

Nobody talked much during the rest of the dinner, so Beca decided to loosen them up a bit. "I'm going to tell you guys a funny story!" she began, drawing everyone's attention. "A few years back on Thanksgiving, when Jesse and I were around 16, I was invited for dinner at his place." Jesse knew exactly what his best friend was about to tell and covered his face in embarrassment. "Knowing how gullible Jesse was, his mom decided to play a trick. She told him that she needed something from the store. When he left, his mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed  
the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, and inserted it into the turkey, and  
re-stuffed the turkey. She then placed the bird, well, birds back in the oven." She paused to smirk at Jesse before she continued.

"When it was time for dinner later, his mom asked him to pull the turkey out of the oven and remove the stuffing. So Jesse did what his mother asked him. When his serving spoon hit something, he reached in and pulled out the little bird. You guys should've seen that look of total shock on his face. His mother was like; _'Jesse,  
you've cooked a pregnant bird!'_. And at the reality of this horrifying news, he started to cry. It took us two hours to convince him that turkeys lay eggs!

Beca managed to make everyone laugh except Chloe again. The woman only shook her head and went outside. The brunette got up and went after her.

"You know, normal people would at least smile at a story like that." Beca commented, still laughing.

It was getting dark outside. The lightly breezy air made the redhead fold her arms.

"Are you trying to say that I'm not normal?" the woman scowled, with her eyes still locked at the sky filled with stars..

"If you are normal, then I'm.. um.. the Statue of Liberty." Chloe turned around this time, facing the other woman as she cocked an eyebrow. Beca raised her hand to imitate the statue, trying to hold her laugh.

"Well according to me, you're the one who's not normal." The redhead exclaimed. "Since this morning, you have been behaving like you've known us for years, not knowing what boundaries are."

"Not years, darling. For eons!" Beca remarked. "In fact, I feel like we've met in several past lifetimes." The brunette threw an arm around the other woman's shoulders but it was pushed away immediately by the redhead.

Chloe raised a finger. "Listen.. You are our new neighbour, so please behave like one!" she yelled.

"Okay." Beca said as she pressed a finger on the redhead's nose. "Ding dong. May I please borrow a cup of milk?"

Chloe felt frustration towards the other woman. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Didn't you just tell me I should behave like a neighbour?" Beca threw an innocent look. "So may I have a cup of milk?"

"Ha-ha. So funny." Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Please take this 'happy-go-lucky' nature of yours and knock on someone else's door, because we are genuinely not interes…."

Beca stopped laughing and let out a sigh. "Shush." She interrupted, this time serious. "What's your problem?" the brunette huffed.

The redhead furrowed her eyebrows. "Problem?"

"Yes.. Why do you feel like the entire weight of the world is on your delicate shoulders?" Beca remarked, pressing her hands on the older woman's shoulders. "Who are you?"

Chloe raised her finger, preparing to speak as the brunette slapped her hand away, leaving her speechless. "What's the point of praying to God, when you don't know how to value the life that has been given to you?"

"Excuse me, what do you know about my life anyway." Chloe grunted.

"I may not know much, but enough to say that through your eyes perhaps you don't have much." This time Beca raised her finger. "But look at your life through someone else's eyes and you'll know you have a lot!"

Chloe threw her hands up in defence. "Great, now I have to listen to a lecture." She said before turning around and walking away.

Beca grabbed the woman by her wrist to make her stop. "Listen.. just live.. be happy.. smile.. who knows, tomorrow may never come."

Chloe shook her head again, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms again.

"Okay, then I will teach you how to smile." Beca said. "It's a simple 3 parts process.." The brunette counted to three and shot a smile at the redhead. "Try it. 1, 2, 3.."

"Are you crazy?"

"Oh God, poor thing has forgotten how to smile." Beca sighed. "But don't worry, just keep practicing and it will come back."

Chloe pressed her finger against the brunette's collarbone. "You know, your problem is that you think…" she got cut off by Beca again.

"I know, I am very sexy." She grumbled as the other woman's eyes widened. "But you are not my type, I'm sorry. For now, just practice."

Chloe's eyes shot skyward. "Just forget it." She sighed, walking back inside.

….

That night Chloe stared into the mirror after brushing her teeth, thinking about what the brunette had said earlier. Had she really forgotten how to smile? She conjured a smile on her face, but her eyes didn't express the same emotion. Thinking back, the last time she could remember smiling, was when she was with her father.

….

"Such a beautiful woman." Jesse smirked, as he sat down next to his best friend on the couch.

Beca's eyes didn't leave her laptop. "Who?"

"Stacie of course, who else?" he said, raising the picture he was holding so Beca could see what he was talking about.

The woman looked up this time. "Oh, yes. That picture was taken at the wedding." She smiled. "Where did you find it?"

"It was in a folder in your room." He put the picture away and turned to face his friend. "I spoke to Stacie this morning. She said you were meeting her today."

Beca nodded, checking her watch. "Actually, I was just gonna leave after finishing this mix, but I think that would be too late. I should go now." She closed her laptop, putting it away before getting up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Jesse asked.

The woman shook her head. "What are you going to do there? Besides, I want to speak to her in private."

Jesse's expression changed to worry. "Are you scared?"

Beca laughed lightly. "I'm not scared." She lied, as she crossed her fingers behind her back. "You always worry over nothing. There's no need to be worried, everything will be fine." She leaned over to hug her best friend before leaving. "Thanks for being there for me though."

Jesse faked a smile. "Anytime."

…..

"Will you stop eating? You will never find a boyfriend this way." Chloe asserted. She and Amy had decided to go to Central Park and enjoy the sun, but the blonde kept eating and whining about her blind date. As if that wasn't enough, the park was very crowded. The redhead couldn't watch the city and think about her father like she usually did. Everything was annoying her at that moment. The people around her who were talking too loud, the gulls that were flying around, the wind that was throwing her hair in front of her eyes and of course her friend's muttering.

In the meantime, Beca was also walking through Central Park after meeting Stacie. She noticed the redhead in the distance. Even if it was crowded, how could she not stand out when she was shining brighter than the sun. The brunette walked their way as she decided to sneak up behind them.

"I'm sad, Chloe. My blind date stood me up! I would've finished him like this burger, but I don't know what he looks like." Amy fumed, taking another bite from her Double Burger when she noticed a cute guy with a bandana tied through his dark blonde hair. It was the same guy she saw at Starbucks a few days ago. He was leaning against the gate with his headphones on, whistling and bobbing his head to the music.

"Oh my god, it's him again. He's so cute!" She squeezed the redhead's arm in excitement.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "_That _is cute?"

"You don't find any guy cute." Amy stated.

"I can't hear anything, speak up a little!" Beca interrupted the two women, making them jump.

"You?! Were you eavesdropping?" Chloe grunted hotly.

"I was trying, but I couldn't hear much." The brunette moved over to sit next to Amy. "We haven't met. I'm Red's new neighbour, Beca."

"I am also _Red_'sneighbour, Fat Amy." She smiled.

"Do you mind? We were talking." Chloe interrupted.

Beca rattled her tongue. "Do _you _mind? Now_ we_ are talking." She turned back to the bigger woman. "Look Amy.. Any guy who looks at your figure, and loves you…."

"..Will be blind.' Chloe cut off.

"..Will be wrong.. Ignore her." Beca said. "He should look into your heart, not your figure."

"You're right!" Amy smiled.

"I am always right." The brunette shrugged. "So tell me, which guy do you like here?"

The blonde pointed at the guy with the bandana. "That one."

"Yikes.. I mean.. John?"

"Do you know him?" Amy's eyes widened.

"No, but he looks like a John type of guy, you know." She stated, waving at the guy. "John! Over here. Hey, John!"

Chloe cringed, taking a book out of her handbag as she opened it to pretend like she was reading and didn't know them. The guy noticed the gestures and took off his headphones. "Are you talking to me?" he asked confused.

"Yes, I'm talking to you John." Beca shouted.

"The name is Luke." The guy replied.

"Well, Luke.." the brunette sat up straight. "My friend is really into you. She wanted to talk to you since the moment she saw you, but she was so swept off her feet that she couldn't walk. If I was you, I wouldn't miss a chance like this."

A frown found its way to the guy's face.

"Just get over here!" Beca shouted.

Luke raised his eyebrows as he made his way to the three women. "Hi, I'm Luke." He reached out his hand.

Amy raised her arm and shook his hand. "Hi, I'm F.. I mean.. Amy." She smiled.

"Nice to meet you. I DJ at Club Nirvana. Tonight is Retro night, so why don't you guys come along?"

"We'd love to!" Beca rushed out.

"Great, I'll see you there then." The guy turned around and walked away.

Amy watched after him before turning around to hug Beca. "Awesome!" She exclaimed happily.

"Awful." Chloe murmured curtly.

Beca glanced at the redhead. "You are just jealous because Amy's got a boyfriend and you don't, Red."

"I do have a boyfriend!" Chloe rushed out, immediately regretting it. Why did she say that?

Amy frowned. "You do? Who's he?"

"Um.. Tom." The redhead persisted.

"You've never mentioned him before, mysterious woman. Who knows what else you're hiding." Beca teased, moving her eyebrows up and down.

"That's because I don't talk about my personal life with everyone." The redhead stated.

"But you could've at least told _me_." Amy whined.

"Don't mind her Amy.. We will go to the club tonight, and Red won't be there so you can have fun."

"Of course I'll be there, and I will bring Tom with me, you'll see."

….

Chloe wished the ground would split in half and swallow her up. What was she going to do? She had no boyfriend, and she didn't know any guy named Tom. It was all because of Beca. She didn't understand how everyone liked the brunette so easily. That annoying happy attitude, thinking she knows everything. At least, that was what she made her out to be. Maybe she wasn't that bad if she would allow herself to let her in. Why did she want to hate her so much? Was it because she was afraid to let someone new into her life after her father's death, or was is because she was afraid to love?

Chloe shook her head, as if the movement could somehow shake the thoughts away.

Right now, she had to focus on finding someone for tonight.

_**A/N: **_**I would like to thank _Inkstainedpinky_, the author of my favorite fanfic _'Stone Hard as Bulletproof Glass' _for taking his time and give me some tips on a few things :) Hope you guys are enjoying it so far !**


	5. Chapter 5

In the evening, Chloe was pacing in her room, thinking about who she was going to take to the club that night. _I should call Aubrey, she'll know what to do._ She thought to herself as she stopped pacing to walk over to her phone on the nightstand. The redhead dialled her best friend's number and held her phone to her ear.

"Hey Chlo." Aubrey said through the phone.

"Hi Bree, how are you?" Chloe sat down on her bed, putting a pillow on her lap to fidget on the corners of it.

"Alive. How are you?"

The redhead noticed the sadness in her best friend's voice and stopped fidgeting at the corners of her pillow to sit up straight. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She heard the blonde sigh before she spoke. "It's Ashley."

"What about her?" Chloe asked curiously.

Aubrey took a deep breath before she started. "When I got back home after dinner yesterday night, she called me. She said she had a rough day and wanted to spend the night with me. I couldn't say no, so she came over. We talked and watched a movie together, ate cupcakes and drank wine. It was nice."

"So, what's wrong then?"

The blonde took a few seconds to reply. "Later that night I realized I liked the little time we spent together so much, even though it was way too soon, I started to question myself if she would really stick around. And you know what I do when I'm not sure if people will stick around."

Chloe knew very well what her best friend had done. The blonde seemed to be like a magnet to jerks who want her for her money, so she would tell them that she didn't want her parent's help and leave the company to make her life on her own.

"She bolted?!" Chloe shot out.

"She said she suddenly remembered something she had to do and she left. She hasn't replied to any of my texts ever since. I didn't see her at work today either."

"I'm so sorry, Bree. It's good it happened so soon though, it would've been worse if it happened in the future, or after you took the next step."

The blonde didn't respond this time. All she could get herself to say was _'Uhm.."_

Chloe jumped up from her bed with her eyes widened. "Oh no, did you…? When..? Why w….." She couldn't finish any of the sentences she tried to form.

"After the movie." Aubrey explained. "I know it was stupid Chlo, I should've told her before we slept together. Everything went just so fast. I can blame it on the wine, but that would be really weak."

The redhead didn't feel the need to tell her best friend how very stupid it was to sleep with someone after seeing them twice, because she knew the blonde had made a mistake she was aware of and didn't need any lecture at the moment because she already regretted it.

"Crap, Aubrey. Do you want me to come over? Are you okay?" Chloe said worriedly.

"No, I'll be fine. I think I just need to go out to clear my head.

Chloe suddenly remembered why she called her best friend in the first place and sat back down on the edge of her bed. "Now that you mention it, I totally forgot to tell you! We're going out tonight. And I somehow managed to tell Beca I had a boyfriend named Tom and she's expecting me with him at the club tonight. It's a long story, I will tell you later. You can join us too by the way, it will help clearing your head, but I really need your help right now."

"Whoa, slow down. Why did you lie to her?" The blonde asked non-accusatory.

"Because she tells me things like I'm not normal, I don't know how to smile and don't value my life."

Aubrey sighed. "Chlo, we all know that's true."

"I know, but I don't need her telling me that!" Chloe took a deep breath before she continued. "I just need to find a guy named Tom to pretend like my boyfriend, or someone else who can pretend to be Tom and my boyfriend."

"Uhm, Let me think.. How about Donald from our MBA class? He's got a huge crush on you, he would practically do anything you'd ask." Aubrey suggested.

"He does?" Chloe frowned.

"Yeah, I can't believe you've never noticed it. His coner is pretty distracting when he's around you." Aubrey explained.

"What the hell is a coner?"

She heard the blonde laugh lightly through the phone. "It's just some word I use for people who have a crush on their classmates."

"Huh. Well, I don't think that's a good idea though. I wouldn't want to ask someone to pretend like my boyfriend while he's got feelings for me. It would be really disrespectful, Bre." Chloe sighed.

"You're right, sorry.." They were both silent for a moment, thinking about other options till Aubrey broke the silence again. "Oh! How about Tommy? I mean, he's not the most handsome guy but the name is practically the same and he's a good person, he would help a friend out." The blonde suggested.

Tommy was skinny and had a funny way of speaking as if his tongue was always in the way. His short brown hair was always filled with too much hair gel to hold his tuft up, but he was a smart and kind person.

"That's brilliant, how did I not think of that! I don't have his number though. Do you?" Chloe asked hopefully.

"I do, we exchanged numbers when I needed his help with our last project. Hold on." Chloe got up and moved to her nightstand to get a pen and ripped a piece out of a newspaper as she waited for her friend to give her the number.

"Okay, got it. Are you listening?"

"Yes, shoot." Chloe responded.

"718-779-3646."

"Let's see. 718-779-4646. Correct?" Chloe asked for confirmation.

"No, it's 3646 at the end, not 4646." Aubrey corrected.

"Okay thank you! I'm going to call him now. I will text you the details about tonight, you're coming right?"

"Who else is coming besides Beca?" The blonde asked.

"This Luke guy that Amy's crushing on is a DJ there, he invited us over actually. So it's going to be him, Amy, Beca, you, me and hopefully Tommy." The redhead explained.

"Sounds like fun, I'm definitely coming. Wouldn't wanna miss _you_ going out."

"Thank you Aubrey, you're the best! That foul loathsome evil little cockroach of an Ashley doesn't know what she's missing. Her loss!"

"That's sweet, Chlo. Thank you. And have you been watching Harry Potter again, or do you remember those curse words from last time?"

"I remember from last time." Chloe chuckled. "I just love to say it."

Aubrey laughed lightly. "You make it sound so cute, it's almost impossible to get insulted by that."

The redhead smiled to herself. "Anyway, I will see you tonight then! Thanks again."

"Thank _you_. I'll be waiting for your text. See you tonight!"

Chloe ended the call and took the piece of paper off the nightstand as she walked over to her bed to sit down and dial the number. She held the phone back to her ear as she waited for Tommy to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tommy, it's Chloe. Chloe Beale."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

She explained everything to her classmate. Starting with the annoying new neighbour, to the insults, and eventually her imaginary boyfriend. The guy was amused by the situation the redhead had gotten herself into. They discussed the details and he ended up agreeing to lend a hand.

"Thank you, Tommy. You can pick me up at eleven."

"Eleven it is. See you tonight." The guy said before hanging up.

Chloe felt relieved that Tommy agreed on cooperating as she texted the details to Aubrey.

…

"Mom, I'm going out tonight." Chloe informed her mother when she got downstairs. The woman was watching TV, appreciating the silence while the children and her monster-in-law were asleep.

"With who?" Jennifer dropped her head over the back of the couch to face her daughter upside down.

"Aubrey, Amy, Tommy and.." Chloe hesitated for a second. "…and Beca." She added.

"Oh, Beca! Did she convince you to go out? You never go out." Jennifer lifted her head as her daughter moved over to sit on the couch beside her.

The redhead sighed. "Really, mom? Is Beca the only name you've heard? You didn't even ask who Tommy is." Her gaze dropped to the ground. "And no, I wanted to go myself." Chloe lied. She didn't really want to go. It was just to proof Beca that she wasn't some boring, lifeless, anti-smiling loner who never had a date since her father's death, which has been 6 years already.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Since you're not interested in men, I figured it would be one of the other girls' date. So, who's Tommy?" Jennifer asked curiously.

Chloe threw her hands in the air as a frown found its way to her face. "Why does everybody keep saying that?! Why would you think I'm not interested in men?"

"Simply because you never _show_ interest." Jennifer stated. "Now who's Tommy?"

Chloe wanted to tell her the truth, but after hearing her mother's prejudices, she decided not to. "It's actually my date for tonight." She blurted out, hoping she wouldn't regret it later.

"I am so happy for you! It's been so long since you've had a male figure in your life. I think it was about time." Jennifer smiled, pulling her daughter in for a hug.

Yup. She already regretted lying to her mother. Chloe couldn't bear the fact that her mother was happy about a lie.

She pulled away from her mother's hug. "Mom.. It's actually not really my date.." Chloe admitted.

Jennifer furrowed her eyebrows at her daughters concession. "What do you mean?"

"Anger got the best of me when you judged me, so it just slipped out of my mouth. Tommy is just a friend who's gonna pick me up at eleven . He's in our MBA class." She sighed. "And I don't need a male figure in my life. I've got the most amazing friends, a strong, loving mother and memories of my father. I don't need anything else."

Despite the confidence in her voice, she knew it wasn't completely true. She always had a feeling that something was missing. A feeling that her father couldn't give her anymore. The feeling to be _home._

A smile played on Jennifer's lips. "I'm so lucky to have a daughter like you. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made any prejudices about you. I hope you will have fun tonight." She pulled Chloe back in for another hug . "Now go get dressed, your _date_ will be here in two hours."

….

"Are you sure you're not coming?" Beca asked Jesse as she put her black shoes on that matched her black tank top underneath her auburn coloured blouse.

"No, I don't feel like partying." Jesse deadpanned from the couch. "You shouldn't either."

Beca let out a sigh. "What do you expect me to do, Jesse? Lock myself up inside, and grumble about what Stacie said?"

Jesse looked down at his hands to think for a moment before he looked back up at his best friend who was now standing in front of him with her arms folded. "No, I just… I don't know Becs. Just don't do anything stupid."

Beca dropped her arms. "Don't worry. I won't even drink."

Jesse nodded quietly as Beca leaned over to hug her best friend before she turned back to walk over to the door. "Good night, Jess. You'll probably be sleeping when I get back."

"Good night and make good choices!" He yelled after Beca as she left.

…

The bell rang and Jennifer got up from the couch to open the door. When her eyes met a skinny guy in tight jeans and a blue checkered blouse, she couldn't help but feel relieved that it wasn't her daughter's real date. "You must be Tommy. Come in, Chloe will be down in a minute." She stepped aside to let the him in.

Not much longer they heard footsteps on the stairs. They both turned around to see Chloe walk down the stairs in a tight blue, strapless, short dress that hugged her body perfectly. Her hair was let down on one side and the way her makeup was done, made her eyes pop out even more than usual. Her heels were shiny dark blue, with a black layer on the bottom matching her black purse. Tommy's jaw dropped at her appearance as he had never seen the redhead outside of school. But even Jennifer had never seen her daughter dressed up like that.

Chloe frowned at the gazes she was getting. "Is it too much?"

"No, not at all. You just look gorgeous honey." Jennifer said with wide eyes.

"Definitely, gorgeous." Tommy added.

"Thanks." Chloe felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she walked over to Tommy. "Let's go."

….

"Hello girls!" Aubrey squealed happily as she entered Club Nirvana and made her way over to Beca and Amy who were standing at the bar. "Where's Chloe?"

"We haven't seen her yet." Amy shrugged.

"She'll probably be here soon." Aubrey guessed. "So, who's this Luke guy?" She moved her eyebrows up and down mischievously.

Amy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw Luke coming their way. "He's coming!" she said happily.

Luke threw an arm around Amy. "Hey sweetheart. I'm going to the DJ cabin, would you like to join me?"

Aubrey cringed at the sight of a guy with sunglasses, black jeans and nothing but an unbuttoned purple sleeveless jacket.

"Of course!" Amy said, clapping her hands excitedly. "I'll join you in a minute."

"Cool." Luke replied as he turned around to walk over to the cabin.

Amy turned to face Beca. "He called me sweetheart!" she hugged the brunette and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you!"

"Good, now go and love him." Beca smiled after Amy as the blonde ran towards the cabin.

"Oh look, Chloe and Tommy.. I mean.. Tom are coming." Aubrey gestured towards the entrance.

Beca turned her head around to look at the point Aubrey was gesturing at as her eyes met Chloe's. She admired the gorgeous woman for a moment. She closed her eyes to snap out of her own little world. When she opened her eyes, Chloe and Tommy were standing beside them.

Chloe made a face of defiance as she introduced Tommy to Beca. "Beca, this is Tom." She gestured to Tommy. "Tom, this is Beca."

Beca shook his hand. "Nice to meet you!" She smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Tommy smiled back.

"Let's get a drink!" Aubrey proposed.

"Yeah, it's on me!" Beca spat out. "What would you guys like to drink?"

"That's really nice, Beca. Thank you!." Aubrey said. "I think we can all agree to tequila shots."

Beca tapped the bar to get the barman's attention. "10 tequila shots please."

"Coming!" the barman replied.

She turned back to Tommy. "So, how did you two meet?"

Tommy and Chloe looked at each other for a moment, not expecting that question.

"In the park." Tommy rushed out just at the same time that Chloe said "MBA classes."

"Sorry? I didn't catch that." Beca frowned at the two as Chloe squeezed the guy in the arm.

In the meantime, the barman put the tequila shots in front of them.

"We study together in the MBA classes, but we met in the park before." Chloe finally said.

"Okay, and what were you doing in the park?" Beca asked curiously.

"Very good question." Tommy pointed out, using that time to think. "I had taken my dog for a walk, and she had taken hers for a walk!" He said confidently.

Beca laughed lightly. "That's strange. Chloe doesn't have a dog."

"I had taken my neighbour's dog for a walk!" Chloe shot out.

Aubrey shook her head at how stupid that sounded.

"That's even stranger, because Amy and I are your neighbours and we don't have dogs either." Beca grinned.

"Chloe, you silly girl. Did you forget? You took your friend's dog!" Tommy commented.

"Okay, what's your friend's name?" Beca asked amused.

"Jessica!" Tommy spat out with a shock on his face.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Jessica?" she questioned.

A woman with long, curly brown hair, green eyes and a shiny golden dress interrupted them. "Tommy?!"

"Jessica." Tommy repeated.

"What are you doing here? You told me you were going to visit your family?"

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but Beca cut him off. "Did Chloe take your dog out?" she smirked. "Is that how these love birds met each other?"

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and glared at Tommy. "Love birds? I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

"She is not my girlfriend!" Tommy divulged.

The woman raised her hand. "I don't even care. I'm out of here." She said as she walked away.

Tommy slammed his palm against his forehead. "That was the girl I asked out 3 days ago!" he mused.

Beca conjured an innocent look on her face. "I am very confused, Chloe." She said, trying to fight a laugh, but failed.

Chloe pointed her finger at the brunette. "You, just shut up." She said, sternly. "You knew all along that I didn't have a boyfriend, so why did you act?"

Beca smirked. "Was I acting, or you? I was just amusing myself."

"She's right, Chlo. It was all you." Aubrey pointed out.

"Oh please, both of you just keep quiet." Chloe implored. "What do you think? Coming here, dancing, singing and drinking means living life? Well.. anyone can do it, but I don't want to do it!" She grumbled hotly, folding her arms.

"That's because you're boring." Beca stated, turning to face Tommy as she continued. "So tell me about Jessica, she's hot!"

Chloe's eyes widened, watching the two speak.

"She's very hot!" Tommy replied.

"You should go after her. If she doesn't want you anymore, you can give her my number." Beca winked.

Chloe pushed the two aside, taking one tequila shot after another till she finally had 5. Beca, Aubrey and Tommy looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'll show you how to party!" Chloe yelled, grabbing Aubrey's hand and dragging her to the dance floor. Beca watched the redhead dance with her best friend, fully amused by this new side of the woman.

A few moments later, the redhead noticed a few women practically throwing themselves at the brunette. Beca seemed to enjoy the company. Chloe couldn't help but feel jealous, pulling Aubrey closer to her as she turned around to grind her ass to the blonde's front. It didn't help to get the brunette's attention though. Aubrey on the other hand, didn't think of anything else anymore, she was enjoying every second of it.

After Tommy left the club, Beca guided one of the women to the dance floor, making Chloe more jealous. The redhead stopped dancing and furiously walked back to the bar as Aubrey followed her.

"I need a drink." The blonde said, as she took the other 5 shots. "Daamn, I didn't know you were…." Chloe didn't pay attention to her best friend. Her eyes were constantly looking for the brunette. _I'm gonna walk over and drag that woman out of this club by her hair! Who does she think she is? _Chloe thought to herself.

"Chloe, are you listening?" Aubrey said, waving her hand in front of the woman's face. The redhead snapped out of her thoughts. She turned her head to face her best friend, but was caught off guard by how close they were. Chloe couldn't stop herself from getting closer. They could feel each other's breath brush against their lips. Just a little bit closer and…..

"Am I interrupting something?" Beca cut in.

The two women jumped at the interruption.

"I think we should go home." Chloe said, looking around for Tommy. "Where's Tom?"

"He left." Beca explained. "He went after Jessica."

"Oh, then I guess I'm gonna have to grab a taxi." Chloe picked up her purse and grabbed Aubrey's hand as they tried to walk towards the exit, stumbling. Beca shook her head with a smile on her face and handed some money to the barman before she walked over to the drunk women to link her arms with theirs. With Chloe on her right and Aubrey on her left side they walked out of the club, trying to find a cab.

As they walked, Beca heard a sob coming from her right. "What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"My father used to take me to school like this." Chloe said, wiping the tears that had escaped from her eyes. "I miss him."

Beca opened her mouth to speak, but got cut off by the blonde. "May I?" Aubrey said, gesturing between herself and Chloe.

"Sure, of course." Beca replied, unlinking their arms.

Aubrey walked over to Chloe and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Don't cry, Chlo. You don't look nice when you cry." Aubrey said. "You look nice when you are angry at me. So, whenever you miss your father, just think about how stupid I've been about Ashley. You'll get angry." She wiped the remaining tears from Chloe's cheeks. "I really like you, Chloe. My day is not complete till I see you again."

Beca closed her eyes for a moment to stop the tears that were trying to escape, forcing a smile on her face as she watched the two women.

Chloe looked into the blonde's eyes as a smile found its way to her face. "You are so sweet, Aubrey."

"A smile looks even nicer." Aubrey grinned. "Now let's go find a cab." She linked her arm with Chloe's and they walked together as Beca followed them, with her hand pressed against her chest again, fighting the tears from running down her face.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning the sun came up and brightened Chloe's room. She wasn't fully awake yet, but she could feel the presence of another person wrapped in her embrace. She could hear that person's heartbeat as her head rested on their chest. The redhead was used to this feeling. It wasn't the first time that Aubrey spent the night at her place. She smiled lightly to herself and was about to go back to sleep as she realized there was something different this time. The heartbeat she heard was faster than usual. The person she wrapped her arms around was tiny and smelled like fresh coconut and vanilla instead of flowers. She opened her eyes and jumped up when she saw Beca watching her.

"What are you doing here?!" She glared at the brunette.

Beca smiled as she pushed herself up with her elbows. "You and Aubrey had gone berserk last night. We dropped Aubrey off before we went home. She was alright, but you were a mess. I think you're not used to alcohol. Plus everyone else here was already asleep, so I decided to stay the night to take care of you." She explained. "Which is not really working, because I tried to get up to make you breakfast, but you were holding me too tight. I didn't want to wake you."

Chloe felt embarrassed and glanced down at her hands. "I can take care of myself." She mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can." Beca grinned as she got out of bed. "Get dressed, I'll make you breakfast." She walked towards the door as Chloe glanced down at her body to see that she was in her pyjamas, not remembering how. The brunette turned around. "Oh, and Jenny called to tell me she was heading to the restaurant, so we're visiting her after." She added before walking out.

The restaurant that Jennifer owned wasn't doing well after her husband had passed away. Debts were increasing, and she couldn't get enough customers to pay them off. She couldn't handle the restaurant on her own, even though Chloe lent her a hand every now and then. Iris always refused to set foot in there, so she wasn't helping either.

After Chloe got out of her pyjamas to put her dark blue jeans and red shirt on, she stood in front of the mirror looking at herself. _What was this feeling? Why am I not mad that Beca is making me breakfast right now, after spending the whole night with me? Why am I smiling? Stop it, Chloe. Don't do this. If you let her in now, you won't be able to stand back up when she leaves.  
_

"Breakfast is ready!" Beca yelled from downstairs, making the redhead snap out of her thoughts. Chloe took a deep breath, hesitated for a second, but eventually walked out of her room.

When she got downstairs, she smiled inwardly at the sight of the cheerful brunette whistling the melody of _Just The Way You Are_ while she put some pancakes on her plate. Beca looked up when she heard footsteps approaching her as a wide grin appeared on her face. She picked up the milk bottle and poured some into her cup as she began to speak. "So, you and Aubrey had fun last night, going all crazy and stuff. You two seem really close." She took the second cup and poured some milk in there as well. "Do you want more?" she asked.

A shock took over Chloe's face. She wasn't expecting a question like that. "What? No, Aubrey is a wonderful person, but I'm happy with just friendship." She rushed out.

"I was talking about the milk." Beca chuckled. "Do you want more milk?"

"Oh." Chloe glanced at the cup, turning red from embarrassment. "No that's enough, thank you." She walked over to the table in the kitchen and took a seat from across the brunette.

"Where is everyone?" Chloe frowned at the silence in the house. It has never been this quiet. Usually, Iris would be praying or yelling at Jennifer and Lily while Benji would be watching basketball on TV.

"The kids are playing outside, enjoying their Sunday morning." Beca smiled. "Iris is praying for the second time today, because I'm taking everyone to the restaurant, so she's coming too."

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows. "Praying? Did she finally manage to make me deaf, or did she quit singing?"

Beca laughed. "I actually convinced her to stop singing."

"How did you manage to take her to the restaurant AND make her stop singing?!" Chloe asked curiously. Iris never listened to anyone.

"Professional secret." Beca smirked as she took a bite from her pancake.

Chloe didn't bother to push her any further so she decided to join the brunette as they ate their pancakes in silence.

Beca took a final bite and finished her milk before she got up to clean the mess she had made. She moved over to the dishwasher, singing _Titanium _as she put the dirty dishes inside. Chloe's gaze left her now empty plate and stared at the back of the other woman, amazed by the beautiful voice that was coming out of such a tiny person. Beca put the last dirty dish in the dishwasher before she turned around and stopped singing when she saw the redhead staring at her. "Wake up, red." She smiled.

Chloe shook her head and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "That's my.." she couldn't finish her sentence as she was still dull by the woman's voice.

"Favourite song, I know." Beca finished. "I would've never thought someone like you actually listened to music." She chuckled.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at the brunette's last statement. "How did you even know that it's my favourite song?"

"First, I didn't know much about you." Beca remarked. "But now I do." She smirked, holding up a black diary.

Chloe's eyes widened as she jumped up from her chair with a sudden movement, causing the chair to fall. "That's… That's Aubrey's diary! Oh my god. You took it from her?" she glared at the brunette.

"No, she dropped it in the cab last night, so I read it." Beca shrugged with an innocent smile. "Not all of it though. Just till I got to the part where she mentions that her favourite underwear colour is red." She chuckled.

"You're such a… You're not supposed to do that, it's disrespectful!" Chloe said sternly before she suddenly realized something. "Wait, did you say.. about me? What did she write about me?" She frowned.

"Why don't you ask her?" Beca winked.

Chloe quickly moved over to the other woman, reaching out her hand. "Give it to me."

"What happened to "_it's disrespectful"_?" Beca laughed, hiding the diary underneath her shirt. "I'm keeping this for her."

"You're unbelievable." Chloe sighed.

"No. Unlike you, I'm actually pretty awesome." Beca smirked.

Chloe rolled her eyes and muttered a few words under her breath as she turned around to walk away. The brunette grabbed her hand to pull her back and look into her baby blue eyes.

"I'm only joking with you, Chloe." She smiled friendly, not leaving the older woman's hand as she used her other hand to put the diary on the counter behind her. "You know, last night it was the first time I saw the side of you that likes to have fun, but for some reason you want to hide that girl inside of you." She remarked. "I just want you to know, wherever he is, your father is looking at you. He sees your anger and sorrow. He's watching everything, Chloe. And perhaps he's even crying along with you. Now you can't wipe his tears from here, but you can stop them by smiling and laughing."

Chloe felt a lump in her throat when she tried to speak. Words couldn't find their way to her mouth. She just kept staring at the brunette's friendly greyish blue eyes that were looking at her with so much love and care, it made her melt inside.

Beca moved her free hand towards the other woman's face and gently poked in her cheek. "Where's that smile? I still can't see it." She said softly. "Come on, I taught you how to do it. 1, 2, 3, and…"

Chloe wasn't aware of her actions. She was lost in those caring eyes as a smile found its way to her lips. She couldn't stop the smile. Even her eyes were expressing the same emotion this time.

"There it is!" Beca grinned widely. "Now keep it like this." She released the other woman's hand and walked away from the kitchen, continuing to sing _Titanium.  
_

Chloe walked over to the chair she had knocked over to pick it up while thinking about the brunette, a smile still playing at her lips.

…..

"If we don't pay off soon, we've got two months to leave this restaurant." Jennifer said with watery eyes.

"If you don't mind, can I please do something?" Aubrey asked softly.

Beca didn't only convince Iris to come to the restaurant, but when Chloe entered the restaurant with the brunette, Iris, Benji and Lily, she was met with Aubrey, Amy, Jesse and even a few of the employees.

"Thanks Aubrey, but we can't accept that." Jennifer replied, fighting a tear from escaping her eyes.

Beca was looking through some files when Iris opened her mouth to speak. "Why won't you accept it? You can pay her back later. We need this restaurant."

Jennifer glared at the old woman. "When did you ever help me that you are feeling bad today?"

Chloe interrupted the two women. "Mom please, now is not the time for you two to argue, this is a serious problem."

"With a simple solution." Beca added, looking up at Jennifer from the files she was reading.

"Shut up, Beca. This is our family problem." Chloe commented sternly.

"I don't care." The brunette replied, not leaving her eyes from Jennifer.

"But we aren't.."

Beca waved Chloe's words off. "Shut up, red." She said, leaving the redhead speechless.

"Jenny, this restaurant of yours doesn't run. And it shouldn't.." She walked through the restaurant, looking around her. "Why should it? Just tell me what is available in this restaurant, that isn't available anywhere else in this street?" She paused for a moment, but nobody responded. "Exactly, nothing! Why does that Chinese restaurant from across the street do so well?" She waited a few seconds, but again no respond. "Because they've got a different culture, am I wrong?"

"You are right." Iris remarked.

"I know." Beca smiled. "And we should do the same. We should try another culture." She stopped and thought for a moment before she continued. "Turkish food for example, it's nowhere to be found around here. We need to bring that culture to this small street and spread it in all directions."

"I don't believe this nonsense." Chloe snapped.

"I told you to shut up." Beca replied, again not looking at the redhead.

"Beca…" Jennifer tried to speak, but Beca didn't give her the chance to say anything else as she reached over and gently squeezed the woman's arms, looking into her eyes.

"No Jenny, try. Just try. There is no harm in trying." Beca said softly. "Those who try, never lose." She turned around to face the others. "Come one, hands in!" She exclaimed, reaching out her hand.

Everyone hesitantly looked at each other until Aubrey made her first move and put her hand on Beca's, making the rest do the same.

"That's the spirit!" Beca exclaimed happily.

They all took a chair and sat in a circle to throw some ideas into the group. Beca wrote everything down that seemed useful. They discussed the details and made plans for the whole week. After the little meeting, everybody got up to carry out their tasks. The first task was to take all the useless things out of the restaurant. Everyone worked together. Beca and Jennifer researched everything about the Turkish culture and food, Aubrey and Chloe cleaned the restaurant as Jesse and some employees took the decorations down.

The tasks for the next day were to buy new decorations and groceries. The tasks for the third day were to paint the walls. These tasks went on for a few days until eventually the walls were painted, the American flag was replaced with a Turkish flag, the name of the restaurant changed from '_Café New York' _to '_Café Istanbul' _and the decorations were all new and Turkey- related_._ Everyone looked around, admiring their own hard work and smiling proudly at the change. Jennifer put the '_Open'_ sign on the door and turned back around to the others. "Everything is ready now." She smiled.

They waited patiently as a few hours passed, but the restaurant remained empty.

Beca couldn't wait any longer. "I'll be right back." She said as she rushed out of the door, leaving everyone confused.

A few moments later, customers started to fill the restaurant. Jennifer had never seen it this crowded. She was surprised, yet happy about the satisfied looks on the customers' faces after their meal.

Beca walked in with a wide smile on her face as she looked around the restaurant. Her eyes stopped at the hardworking woman. "Hey, Jenny!" She walked over to the older woman. Jennifer smiled as the brunette approached her, immediately opening her arms to hug her tightly. "Thank you." She whispered as a tear of happiness escaped her eyes.

"Don't thank me, we all did this together." Beca smiled, wiping the tear away.

Chloe watched the two women from a distance, chuckling to herself. She hadn't seen her mother with so much happiness since what seemed like forever.

….

Beca Mitchell's magic was spreading in all directions, whether they liked it or not, everyone was being swept off their feet. She made Iris stop singing, she helped Jennifer with the restaurant, she even found a way to make Benji play basketball with her, despite his handicap. Beca could simply do anything. Lily's perfect family had a new member in her doll house. And Chloe.. She was finally laughing again.

It was scaring her though. She wasn't used to so much happiness. Whenever she was happy, sorrow was always just around the corner.

….

Beca frowned at the worried look from a taller brunette sitting across the table.

"What happened? You look like someone just died." Beca remarked.

Stacie's eyes left her coffee to look at the younger brunette. ""Shut up, Beca. I just need more time." She replied.

"No, you can't get more time. The café is going to shut soon, you have to order now." Beca said, holding back a smile.

"I'm not talking about the restaurant." Stacie sighed.

"I know, I'm joking." Beca chuckled.

Stacie furrowed her eyebrows angrily. "This is not the time to joke around, it's a serious problem!"

Beca nodded seriously.

"I already told you before you came to New York." The older brunette said.

"What do you mean? Are you saying I shouldn't have come?" Beca frowned.

"When did I say that?" Stacie snapped

"That's what you mean, isn't it?

"You don't understand! I need time.. Yours and mine." Stacie exclaimed, getting annoyed by the younger woman's behaviour.

"Okay, okay." Beca used her hand to make a zipping motion across her mouth. "I came to New York just for you. Now whatever you say, I will do it." She put her hand on Stacie's, squeezing it gently. "And as for time.. all my time is yours."

….

Beca closed the door behind her as she entered the house, kicking her shoes off. When she made her way to the living room, she found Jesse sleeping on the couch.

The brunette slowly walked over to him, trying to make no sound. She leaned over and put her finger in her mouth before she reached over to put it into her best friend's ear. Jesse jumped up from the sudden contact and rubbed his hand over his ear. "Jesus, Beca! You're disgusting."

Beca laughed as she put her arms around her stomach. "I.. can't.. breathe.." Was all she could manage to get out of her mouth. "it…hurts."

"Ha-ha.. very funny." Jesse rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly as he waited for the brunette to stop laughing.

Two minutes later, Beca finally got herself together. "That was funny." She chuckled, wiping away the tears that spilled from laughing.

"Whatever, what did Stacie say?"

"Nothing." Beca replied curtly.

"She wanted to meet you to say nothing? Who are you trying to fool Becs."

"She told me the same things, Jess. She needs more time."

"More time? What is she expecting? That you are just going to…."

A knock on the door interrupted the man. He got up and walked over to open the door. He was surprised to see the redhead. "Chloe?"

"Is Beca home?" Chloe asked. "I want to talk to her."

"Yeah, sure." Jesse stepped aside to let the woman in.

Beca looked up and a smile appeared on her face as her eyes met Chloe's. "What a wonderful surprise, red!"

Chloe rolled her eyes at the word red. "I wanted to talk to you." She muttered.

"I'll be in my room." Jesse said, heading towards his room to give the two women some privacy to talk.

Beca tapped the empty place beside her on the couch, hinting her to sit down. The redhead moved over and sat down next to the younger woman.

"What do you want to talk about?" Beca asked curiously.

Chloe fidgeted at the hem of her sleeves, looking at the ground. "Why?"

"Why?" Beca frowned at the crypticness of the question.

"Yes, why?" Chloe repeated.

Beca got confused. "Why what?"

The redhead was quiet for a second before she looked up from the ground to meet the greyish blue eyes of the brunette. "You moved into this neighbourhood, and suddenly so much around has changed. I mean, you don't even know us.. I just don't understand why?" She finally managed to explain.

"I did it all for you." Beca said, looking into the older woman's wide eyes. "I did all of this because of you, Chloe." She paused, amused by the redhead's shocked expression. "Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"

Chloe smiled, slowly shaking her head. "Not really, actually."

"Good, I didn't even mean it." Beca grinned.

Chloe's smile fell as she looked back to the ground, continuing to rub her fingers together. "Beca.."

"Chloe.." Beca interrupted. "Eyes…"

The older woman looked back up. "What?"

"Have you seen your mother's eyes? There's a lot of pain in them. Whatever I've done, it was for those eyes." Beca smiled. "You know, I actually have a problem. I can't see any mother's sorrow or pain, because I've lost mine."

"I.. I'm so sorry, what happened?"

"She had a car accident when my father left us. I was 16." She explained. "But it's okay, I laugh every day to make sure she laughs with me."

Chloe smiled and nodded curtly.

"Why are you smiling? I did so much for you, at least say thanks." Beca smirked.

Chloe started to fidget at the hem of her sleeves again. "Thank you." She muttered.

"You're welcome." The brunette smiled, pausing for a minute. "Hey, red.."

The older woman looked up as Beca reached her arms around the redhead, taking the hairband off to let her hair down. "Much better." She whispered.

Chloe's heart skipped a beat at how close the brunette was. She was speechless, getting up from the couch, not saying a word as she walked towards the door like a zombie.

Beca furrowed her eyebrows. "What happened, Chloe?

"I.. I have to go." She said as she walked out of the door, leaving Beca confused.

….

Chloe was standing next to the bull statue, waiting for her best friend. They had been spending a lot of time together while helping at the restaurant, but she never had the chance to give Aubrey's diary back.

"Look at you being all pretty with your hair down and smiling." The blonde remarked as she approached the redhead. "What happened to Chloe Beale?"

Chloe shook her head, laughing. "Shut up. Whenever I'm with you, I'm always happy. You know that." She said.

"How sweet." Aubrey smiled, melting inwardly.

Chloe searched through her bag to take the diary out and hand it over to the blonde. "You left this in the cab that night."

Aubrey got nervous as she took it from the redhead. "I was looking for this for so long! Did you…?"

"No, I didn't read it." Chloe cut her off. "At first I wanted to, but then I decided to stay trustworthy towards my best friend." She smiled.

Aubrey felt relieved. She wrote about everything in this diary. Her daily life to her deepest feelings.

Chloe turned her head to face the blonde woman. "Aubrey, can I ask you something?"

"Whatever your question is, my answer is yes." She shot out.

"What? No, it's a serious question." Chloe frowned.

"Okay, shoot." Aubrey noticed the redhead rubbing her fingers together, assuming she was nervous about whatever she was going to tell.

Chloe looked down at her hand, taking a deep breath before looking back up to her best friend. "Has it ever happened to you, that you didn't like someone at first,

and then suddenly you like that person a little, and then a lot.. and then.. you know..?"

Aubrey smiled at the other woman's babbling. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Just because..." Chloe replied nervously.

"Like I would believe that. Who do you like?" Aubrey asked with hope in her eyes.

"Nobody, I was just asking.." Chloe said, looking away from the blonde.

"You know you can't lie to me, who is it?"

"I have to go." Chloe rushed out, turning around to walk away.

Aubrey grabbed her hand to make her stop. "No running away, tell me."

Chloe laughed lightly. "Nope, I really have to go." She said as she rushed off.

"At least hear my answer." Aubrey muttered to herself with a smile. "The answer is yes. That person is you, Chloe."


	7. Chapter 7

Love. What is love? Some say that love doesn't exist. Others say it's just an excuse for lust. Are they wrong? Does it exist? If it does, how do you know it? Well, let me tell you.

When you're in love, everything begins to look beautiful. Every dream seems to come true. All our goals change direction. Even the wind changes its course. Eyes search for colours, and suddenly the colour red starts to look nice. Every moment, every time, always.. there's only one name on the lips. The name of that one person who makes your heart jump by just thinking about them.

"What?" Beca asked surprised, furrowing her eyebrows even if Aubrey can't see the expression through the phone.

"I love Chloe." The blonde repeated.

"Where are you right now?" The brunette stopped walking.

"At home. It's just around the c…" Aubrey was about to explain where she lived but she got cut off by Beca.

"I know where you live, we dropped you off after going out that night, remember?" Beca said. "Anyway, I'm coming over." She added before ending the call and turning back to the taller brunette she was taking a walk with.

"Stacie, I have to go."

"Where are you going?" the taller brunette asked disappointed.

"Something important has come up." Beca explained.

Stacie let out a frustrated sigh. "What can possibly be more important than this?"

"I will tell you later, I'm sorry." Beca said as she turned around to rush off.

"Beca…!" Stacie rolled her eyes.

The smaller woman turned her head as she kept moving. "I'm really sorry, I love you!" She yelled from a distance.

….

"I love Beca." Chloe confessed happily as she stopped walking, turning on her heel to face her friend who had a McDonald's bag in one, and a large coke in her other hand.

Amy almost choked on her coke by the sudden confession, but was excited to know that her friend was happy about something. So excited that she couldn't say anything but smirk widely at her friend.

When Chloe realized her friend wasn't going to speak, she continued. "I never would've thought something like this could happen to me." She said, turning back around to continue walking. "Especially with Beca, you know." She made a face that explained how annoying the brunette could be. "At first, I used to get angry with everything she did, and now I love those very same things." She smiled. "I think about her day and night, I feel like she's with me wherever I go, and when I'm with her, I feel home."

Amy's smile widened along with the redhead's. "Wow, Chloe!"

Chloe covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god." She dropped her hands back on her sides before she stopped walking again to face her friend. "Do you think I've gone mad?"

"No, you're not mad. That's love!" Amy squealed happily. "I'm so excited. You are in love and I'm in love. If I wasn't holding this food, I would hug you!"

Chloe laughed. "I know! But.. What should I do now?" She asked worriedly.

….

"What do you mean, _what should I do_? Go tell her!" Beca frowned at Aubrey.

….

"It's not that easy, Amy." Chloe bit her lower lip. "I mean, I don't even know anything about her feelings."

….

"If you don't ask her, how else are you going to know? Beca questioned. "Come on, go tell her. Be the _man_." She chuckled, encouraging the blonde.

….

"You heard me, Chloe. Tell her." Amy smiled. "Even I'm going to tell Luke about my feelings."

….

"Tell her, Aubrey!" Beca gestured at the phone on the table.

…

"Come on. Tell her, Chloe." Amy begged.

...

"Just call her already!" Beca exclaimed.

Aubrey took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh before she moved over to the table to pick up the phone. She stared at the phone for a while, trying to build up the courage. She jumped and almost dropped the phone when it suddenly rang in her hands. The blonde looked at the screen, but it was a private number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Bre. It's Chloe."

"Chloe!" Aubrey squealed, mentally kicking herself for reacting so over-excited. "Uhhm.. Why is your number private?"

"Oh, my battery died, I'm calling from a phone booth." Chloe explained. "Anyway; Aubrey, I want to ask you something. And _tell_ you something too."

"I want to tell you something as well."

"Yeah? Okay, tell me."

"Uh, not like this." Aubrey checked her watch. "8 o'clock, Water's Edge?"

"Alright."

"Great, I'll see you then. Bye!" Aubrey said happily before ending the call and turning around to face Beca. "Today I'm going to tell her whatever's in my heart." She pulled Beca in for a hug. "Thank you so much, you're the best!"

….

"Why did you call her? You were supposed to call Beca!" Amy frowned after the redhead hung up.

"She's my best friend, I need her to know about it and give me advice before I tell Beca." Chloe explained.

"But you _will_ tell her, right?"

"Yes, Amy. I will." She smiled at the blonde. "Thank you."

….

"Keep the change." Chloe said as she exited the cab. She headed towards the restaurant wearing a red dress and a denim jacket. When she walked in, her eyes spotted the blonde wearing a red blouse and a black skirt smiling at a red rose on the table for two.

"Hey!" Chloe exclaimed as she approached her best friend.

Aubrey turned her head with a wide grin playing at her lips. "Hi!"

The redhead took a seat from across her best friend. "Nice place." She commented, looking around before her eyes met the blonde's again.

"Nice dress."

"Nice blouse." Chloe smiled.

"Okay, stop." Aubrey laughed at their awkward conversation.

"Okay." The redhead chuckled.

They both sat in silence, not knowing where to begin. Chloe started to rub her fingers against each other as Aubrey started to twirl the glass on the table between her hands. They both made a few attempts to speak, but ended up sighing at themselves and looking away.

After a while, the blonde looked back into the other woman's eyes and smiled widely. She ran a hand through her hair and opened her mouth to speak when Chloe suddenly decided to go first. "I love Beca!" She confessed, watching the other woman's expressions.

Aubrey stiffened, feeling pain in her stomach as if she swallowed a brick. Her smile left her eyes, but she managed to keep it on her lips. The eyes of the woman she fell in love with were finally filled with happiness and love, but it was not for her. "You love Beca." She fought the tears trying to escape her eyes, keeping a fake smile on her face. "You love Beca. Of course, you love her." The blonde looked away, biting on her fist to keep herself calm.

"What's wrong?" Chloe frowned at the other woman's strange behaviour.

Aubrey looked back up. "Nothing's wrong." She lied, still keeping the fake smile on her face. "I already had a feeling you were hiding something from me, but this really surprised me!"

"I knew you would be shocked with this news." Chloe giggled.

"Shock?" Aubrey forced a laugh. "I can't tell you how shocked I am."

"You don't need to tell me, I can see it." The redhead chuckled. "I am so nervous, do you think she feels the same way?"

"She has to be insane if she doesn't love you." Aubrey commented seriously.

"Do you think I should talk to her?"

"No." The blonde replied.

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows at the blonde. "What?"

"I mean; go, of course you should tell her!" Aubrey corrected.

A smile found its way back to the other woman's lips. "Okay.. I'm going then." She said nervously as she got up.

"Wait.." Aubrey rushed out. "When you tell her, give her this flower." She said, handing over the red rose that she had bought to give Chloe.

"Oh Aubrey, you are so sweet. I love you." The redhead smiled as she leaned over to kiss her best friend on the cheek. "Thank you, bye!" She waved, walking out of the restaurant.

Aubrey kept staring at the door after the other woman disappeared. "I love you too."

….

Beca closed the door behind her and kicked her shoes off. "Jess, I'm home!"

Jesse got out of the kitchen. "You forgot your phone." He held up a phone in the air. "It kept buzzing. I think you should check it, maybe it's Stacie."

The woman walked over to her best friend and took the phone to see who called. "Aubrey?" She frowned at her screen before holding the phone to her ear to listen to her voicemail.

"_Hi Beca, it's me.. I couldn't tell her. Well, I wanted to, but she didn't really give me a chance. Her heart is taken. She loves someone else.. And, uhm.. That someone.. That someone is you, Beca. She loves you. She is probably on her way to tell you about it right now, so please don't break her heart.. Please."_

…_._

Beca slowly walked over to the door when she heard the doorbell. She took a deep breath and conjured a smile on her face before opening the door to see the redhead standing there with her hair soaking wet from the rain and a red rose in her hands.

"Oh, we don't want to buy flowers." Beca said as she closed the door on the other woman for a second before opening again. "I was just kidding, come in." She laughed, reaching out for the rose. "Thank you."

"No, not now." Chloe said, holding onto the flower.

"Okay, later then." Beca smiled, stepping aside for the redhead to come in and close the door behind her. "It's good you came, I just made some tea, would you like some?" Before the redhead could answer, Beca spoke again. "Oh God, look at your hair!" She rushed off to one of the rooms and came back with a towel, throwing it over the other woman's head ignoring the protests and wiping her hair for a moment before taking it off. "There, much better. Sit down." She gestured to the couch.

Chloe slowly sat down on the couch and put the rose on the table beside her as Beca took a seat on a chair in front of the redhead.

"So, are you hungry?" Beca asked.

"No.."

"Good, there is nothing at home anyway." The brunette smirked, glancing at the older woman's body. "New dress..?

"Thank you. Do you like it? I bought it today." Chloe smiled excitedly.

"I hate it, why did you buy it?" Beca frowned.

Chloe's smile fell as she glanced down at her hands, starting to rub her fingers. She wanted to tell the brunette how she felt, but she didn't know how. "It's raining outside." She managed to say, mentally rolling her eyes at herself.

"I'm sitting inside my house." Beca remarked.

"I know." Chloe nodded.

"And I know that it's raining outside, I can see it." The brunette laughed.

Chloe smiled and looked around, trying to build up confidence to tell Beca about her feelings. She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak again. "Beca, I…" She just couldn't get the rest of the words out of her mouth. How was she supposed to do this? Chloe never had these feelings for anyone before, how was she going to just tell her? "I.. uhm, I.."

"I got it so far." Beca smiled.

"I.." Chloe tried again.

Beca chuckled lightly. "What are you stammering for? Go ahead."

Chloe got up from the couch. "I should go."

"No, no, no. It's okay. I'm sorry." Beca said, getting up as well to hold the other woman by her arms and make her sit back down. "It's raining outside, and your dress is very nice." She smiled. "Come on, let's continue. I… ?" Beca leaned over to let the redhead know she was listening. Chloe looked away to pluck up the courage again as she saw a book on the table beside Beca with a picture sticking out. She reached over and took it out to see a beautiful brunette with dark green eyes in a wedding dress embracing Beca who was wearing a black suit. "She's pretty, who is that?" The redhead frowned, her eyes not leaving the picture.

Beca got up from her chair and moved over to sit down next to the other woman. "That.. is me." She smirked.

Chloe rolled her eyes with a smile. "I know that, but who is this?" She pointed at the woman in the wedding dress.

"That's Stacie."

"Stacie?"

Beca took the picture from the redhead and stared at it for a moment. "Yes, Stacie… My wife."

A second heart was broken today. It was that moment when Chloe's world fell apart again. The words '_My wife'_ crushed her heart into pieces. The feeling she felt when her father passed away was forcing its way back to her. When she finally thought she found her home, it got taken away again. It was like holding a cookie in front of a little kid to make him open his mouth and then eat it yourself. Just when she opened her heart to love, it was taken away by another woman. It would've hurt less if someone tortured her with needles all over her body, slowly, needle by needle, on every inch of her body.

Beca's eyes didn't leave the picture when she continued to speak. "She is the reason why I have come to New York." She shook her head, slapping her palm to her forehead. "Gosh, I'm so stupid. I never told you about." She realized. "I'm so weird, I talk about everything, and forget to mention the most important things." Beca put the picture back on the table, not making eye contact with the redhead as she began to speak. "Stacie and I married three years ago. After marriage, it was the usual married couple squabbles. One day, it went out of hand and I said some nasty things to her. You know how I am, I can be a bit rude sometimes." She smiled, still staring at the table. "She got angry, left home and came to New York. Her parents live here, so I followed her to take her back home, but she's still angry with me. She tells me she needs more time, but I know everything will be alright." Beca finally looked away from the table to face the redhead. Chloe's cheeks were black from her mascara, tears still spilling from her eyes. "Hey, why are you crying?" the brunette asked worriedly.

"I..uh, It's just a sad story." Chloe lied.

"Oh, all you women are the same." Beca smirked, wiping away the older woman's tears. "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

Chloe forced a little smile and nodded at the brunette. "Can I go?"

"Please stay, Stacie.. I mean, Chloe." She corrected herself, stabbing the redhead all over again. "See, I'm just really sad." Beca finished.

"Me too." Chloe replied, getting up from the couch and picking up the red rose. "I'm going."

"Flower?" The brunette questioned.

"It's not for you." Chloe said. "It's for.. Jesse." She moved over to Jesse's door and slowly knocked on it. Jesse opened the door, pretending he didn't hear their conversation. Though Chloe knew he had heard everything and handed the rose over to the man. "If it wasn't for you, I would've never met this amazing person." She said softly.

Jesse nodded slowly. "Thank you."

The redhead hugged him quickly before turning around to rush towards the front door.

"Take an umbrella, it's raining." Beca commented.

Chloe didn't stop walking. "Bye, Beca." She said, opening the door and walk out.

Once outside, she broke down on her knees, crying. Her tears blended with the rain rolling over her cheeks, washing away the mascara stains. She wanted it to stop. To stop hurting so bad.

Was this love? Sure, love is something really beautiful and colourful. It's happiness, joy, laughing, fun, and the feeling to be home. But love can also be painful sometimes. Nobody seems to realize that even love has its dark side. You know what they say; even white roses have a black shadow. The more you love, the more it will hurt…

**_A/N: Im sorry if i made any mistakes, its 5:34am right now !  
Please leave a review to let me know if you like it so far :)_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N_****: My dearest readers.. Before we start, I'd like to thank my 'editor' and very very good friend; ****_mallowupsidedown_**_,_ **for editing this chapter. If it wasn't for her, it wouldn't be this good :) From now on, she'll be editing the next chapters and I am really grateful for that! A big bear hug ;) **

**Also.. Ive gotten a few messages from readers, impatiently asking for an update. I'm sorry for taking so long this time, but im trying to get better at this. As you all know, its my first fic, and I'd rather take long and make a great chapter than rush it and screw it up.. Anyway, enough of that.. **

**I present to you, chapter 8! Enjoy :)**

Have you ever felt like you were doing just fine, accepting everything that life has to offer you, simply living every second of your life with a smile on your face? It's like being the number zero in the number line. Zero is not positive, nor is it negative... it's just neutral. Then someone, out of the blue, just comes into your... not-so-boring-yet-not-so-exciting life and they change everything. Their smile becomes the reason for your breath. Their life becomes the reason for your heartbeat. Their happiness becomes your lifelong mission. Everything changes, in a snap, just like that. Everything... because of that one single person.

At first, you're excited. It's like having your very first ice cream on a hot summer day, it's simple yet very pleasurable. It makes you want to return the favour. It makes you want to do things you never imagine you could do. You want to give them all of you, whatever you have, just to make them feel how they make you feel.

But then you realize that you can't. You couldn't. Deep down inside, you know it's not fair for either of you. So suddenly, you feel hopeless, devastated, broken, and defeated. The worst part is, you know deep down that you can't do anything about it, that you just have to move on and live with it.

….

Beca got up from the couch and weakly walked towards her room. Jesse remained standing outside his own door, observing his best friend as he held onto the rose that Chloe gave him.

"You love her, don't you?" he suddenly asked, shifting his gaze to the rose then back to Beca.

The brunette stopped walking, not turning around to hide her watery eyes. She's not letting any tear escape from her eyes, not when she can help it... especially not when she's with Jesse. She got herself together and internally sighed. "No." she replied curtly.

"Yes, you do. You love her." Jesse spat. He knows her too well. They've been best friends for a long time after all.

"I don't love her!" Beca raised her voice. She enunciated those words firmly as if it would somehow turn into her reality and that it would convince Jesse. She stared blankly at the door in front of her, still fighting off those tears.

Jesse slowly walked towards the woman, grabbing her wrist and holding it up to untangle her crossed fingers. Something she always did when she lied. "I'm your best friend, you can't lie to me." he softly said as he looked at her with such sympathy in his eyes.

Beca finally turned around to face him. A tear was slowly running down her cheek as she looked into her best friend's eyes. "What do you want me to do? Tell her the truth?!" She demanded with a quiver in her voice. Another tear escaped. "When you can't even fully accept the truth after knowing everything, how do you think Chloe will bear it?" She looked at him with bloodshot eyes and waited for a response. When Jesse didn't say anything, Beca freed herself from his grip and took a few steps back, taking in a few deep breaths. "What am I supposed to do, Jess? What do I tell her?" She needed answers.

Jesse didn't respond. What was he supposed to say? He stared at his best friend, not bothering to fight back the tears escaping from his eyes. His heart broke seeing the pain in the eyes of the usually happy and confident woman.

"How would I tell her that... for the first time in my life, for the first goddamn time, this heart is beating for someone?" Beca snickered to herself. "For the first time, this heart is breathing someone's name. For the first time, my heart has loved someone." She trailed off and took a deep breath. She sobbed, pressing her hand on her chest. "How do I fucking tell her that- _Chloe, the love from this heart is very strong, but the heart itself is too weak..? _How can I give her my weak heart, Jess?" She looked at him with confusion displaying on her face. She whimpered. "How do I tell her that the woman on the picture is actually _not_ my wife, but my friend and my doctor who is almost killing herself day and night, just to keep me alive?" She paused. She can see Jesse flinching a little at her last words. "Just to keep me alive for a few more days, daamnit!" she cursed, punching against the wall. She stayed still, fist attached to the white wall. Anger was spreading all over her body that she somehow needed to release some of it. She didn't bother herself with the pain coming from the surface of her knuckles. She didn't care that her hand could've been bleeding after she forcefully punched the wall. This is nothing compared to the other pain she's feeling somewhere else. "I'm dying, Jesse." The sound of defeat was louder than her voice.

"No!" Jesse exclaimed at her with pain evident in his voice. "No, that is not true." he protested. He took a step forward in her direction. "Stacie said that a heart transplant is possible… After that, everything will be alright." He tried so hard to sound so steady. This is one of those moments that he has to be the stronger one between the two of them.

Beca turned around and took a few steps towards Jesse. "Who are you kidding, Jesse?" She laughed a little against her tears. "There are tons of other people on the waiting list before me."

"No! You're not going to die. There must be another way." He shook his head and cried. _Too much for being strong, Jesse, _he thought to himself as he looked down to his feet.

"I'm your best friend, you can't lie to me." Beca said as she tried to rub Jesse's arm to comfort him. "Now please, stop crying. If you become weak, who is going to keep me strong?" She tried to force a smile as she gently rubbed the tear off his cheek.

Jesse quickly wiped his tears with the back of his hand. He looked at her and smiled lopsidedly. _She's right._ He needs to be her wonder wall. He needs to be strong enough for her to lean on. He cleared his throat and tried to speak. "I can hide my tears, but will you be able to hide your love?"

The brunette sighed sadly then slowly shook her head. "It's not a love intended for me anymore." She looked down at her bruised hand. Funny how she doesn't feel any pain as she touched the wounds in her knuckles. "That kind of love is better off with someone who can keep it. It's meant for someone deserving of it." She stated matter-of-factly. "I just have to help it reach its right destination, that's my only dream now." She smiled to herself and looked at Jesse, even if she felt a pang in her heart as she said it.

Beca has to make sure that the love of her life will be in good hands after she passes away. She has to make sure that someone would take care of _Chloe_ and love _her_ until the very end. And that person is Aubrey. Her very last dream is to get Chloe to open her heart for her best friend. She just has to.

….

"Stacie, I want to ask you something." Beca said as she sat down on her porch next to the taller woman and handing over a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Stacie smiled lightly. "Shoot."

"Tell me the truth, how much time do I have?" she asked keeping her cool as she sipped her own cup of coffee.

Stacie's smile fell. "Uhm.. Beca.. You know.. Uhm.." she struggled with her words as she tried to look at her surroundings, anything but Beca's eyes.

Beca laughed at the older woman's babbling. "How do you make that funny face? I've tried so many times to copy it. Is it a special skill made only for doctors?"

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Beca, be serious." This time she looked at her. As much as she wants to be honest, it also killed her inside when Beca asked such difficult question.

"Okay, sorry. I'm serious." Beca said, taking another sip from her coffee.

"What did you tell Chloe?" The older woman curiously asked.

"What's there to tell?" Beca shrugged. "She has this mentality that whenever she loves someone, they eventually leave her. It happened to her before, I don't want to do it to her again. If I leave her too, she might go insane." She took another sip from her coffee and smirked before she continued. "She's halfway there though. You know the effect I have on girls. I'm so sexy, it drives them crazy." She snorted a little.

Stacie shook her head with a smile. "Yeah, right. Why didn't it work on me then?" She raised her eyebrow at her.

"That's because you're tall. It takes a longer time for my appeal to reach your brains." The smaller brunette chuckled, throwing an arm around the other woman.

Stacie laughed lightly, taking a sip from her coffee before dropping her head on Beca's shoulder. "You really love her, don't you?"

As much as Beca wanted to deny it, she couldn't. She just couldn't. Stacie's one of her closest friends after all. "I do." It was almost a whisper.

"I can't believe it. I've known you for so many years, but I've never seen you like this. How did you manage that?" Stacie squinched her eyes.

"It's kind of strange, actually." She began. "All my life, I ran away from love. And now; when my life is running away from me, I have bumped into love." She twisted her lip. Beca took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "So, tell me the truth. Do I really have a little time? Can't anything be done?"

Stacie sat back up, looking down at her hand as she started to fidget at her bracelet. She tried to compose herself. She wanted to choose the right words to say to her. "Beca.. I .. You know, as soon as you get a donor.. It should. I.." She stammered.

"There's that funny face again." Beca laughed.

"Beca, it's really not funny!" her brows furrowed.

"I know, I know. Don't get mad, just give me a hug." Beca grinned, opening her arms.

"No." Stacie said. She can't understand how this does not seem to bother the small brunette after all. How she can still joke about it.

"Oh, come on. I want a long hug from a long lady." Beca winked and motioned Stacie to get inside her chicken arms.

The doctor rolled her eyes and a smile found its way to her lips as she leaned over to throw her arms around the tiny woman.

"Is it already having any effect? Is my appeal making any progress?" Beca chuckled, as she earned a poke on her side, making the other woman laugh.

…..

Meanwhile, as it was a season of heartbeats on one end; it was a season of heartbreaks on the other end. One of those is Chloe's heart. She was looking through her window, sadness painted all over her face. She has been watching the two women laugh together as a tear ran over her face. _This is really a painful view, _she thought to herself but somehow she couldn't get her eyes off the tiny brunette_. _When she saw them hug, she slowly pulled down the curtain, moved over to her bed and curled herself into a ball, closing her eyes.

…..

Another heart break was Aubrey's. She hadn't spoken to Chloe since the day the redhead told her she loved Beca. She's not sure if she'd want to know what happened with those two after Chloe left her to confess her love to her neighbour. The blonde couldn't even seek love from her dog, because even Bumper had found itself a partner. _At least, Bumper's love life is in full bloom_, she thought_._

But the greatest of all the heartbreaks was…

"He doesn't love me, Chloe!" Amy bawled. With such huge body comes such a loud cry.

"Amy, don't cry. Relax. Everything will be alright." Chloe tried to comfort her friend.

"He doesn't love me!" Amy repeated loudly while sobbing. "He says he's confused. That bloody idiot..." And yet, another bawl.

Chloe watched her as she cried louder and louder. When Amy seemed to calm down a little, she softly told her, "I don't really blame him."

Amy shot a sharp look at the redhead. "How rude is that?!"

The scary look on Amy's eyes made Chloe wish she hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry. Please continue." Chloe put an arm around the big blonde.

"He wants to leave for London to join some folk style group!" More bawling.

"Folk style group?" The redhead seemed confused.

"Yes. And do you know the name of the freakin' group he's leaving me for? 'Forget Movies, Watch Us'. What kind of a lame name is that?" She continued to cry more, looking at her friend who wasn't really paying her any attention. "Tissue!" she demanded.

Chloe snapped out of her own little word, taking a tissue out of its box and handing it over to her friend.

"Thank you." Amy sobbed.

_And the heartbreaks continue_, the redhead thought.

….

Chloe walked into the store where she had bought her red dress from. The one she wore when she had decided to tell her first love about her feelings, only to hear that she was married. The redhead walked towards the cashier when she accidentally bumped into a blonde woman who was heading in the same direction.

"I'm sorry I wasn't…. " The blonde cut herself off when she saw who was standing in front of her. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Bree. I'm returning this red dress." Chloe replied, taking the dress out of its bag and holding it up. "It's not really my colour." She added, putting it back. "What are you doing here?"

Aubrey held up the red blouse. "Not my colour either."

As Chloe glanced at the blouse, their conversation from last time played over in their minds.

_Nice place.  
Nice dress.  
Nice blouse._

"Anyway," Aubrey broke the silence. "How did things go with Beca? Did you tell her?" She's not sure if she really wants to know this but she is her best friend after all.

Chloe looked down at her hands, taking a deep breath before she looked back up. "Can we talk about that somewhere else?"

The blonde nodded. "Sure. Let's return these clothes, then we can grab some lunch."

….

"Wait...What? She's married?" Aubrey frowned at the news, putting down the fork she was nervously picking at her food with. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"If I knew that before, would I have let myself fall in love?" Chloe sighed weakly.

"Right." The blonde bit her lower lip. "And now?"

"Now what?" Chloe let out a breath. "At first I couldn't fall in love.. . now I can't fall out of it." She stared into an empty space, cursing internally. "But I have to. I really have to. Or else, me and my heart will just get broken over and over again."

Aubrey put her hand on top of hers and squeezed it gently. "You will never be alone. I am always here for you, you know that, right?" She assured her.

The redhead smiled, "Why are you being so nice to me?", and looked at her eyes fondly.

"Well, I'm naturally a nice person." Aubrey smirked. "If you had just loved me instead, I wouldn't have broken your heart." She was just kidding, but jokes are half meant after all.

The redhead shook her head, laughing.

"See, that's the problem with you." The blonde remarked. "You never take me seriously." She tried to keep her voice steady hoping it's getting into Chloe.

"When are you ever serious, anyway?" Chloe pointed out, still laughing a little.

"Right now." Aubrey admitted with all the seriousness she can muster.

"You don't really mean that."

"Not at all." She took it back. The blonde smiled briefly as she kept staring at the other woman.

Chloe scowled and looked down at her plate as she picked at her food. She's not really eating it, she's playing with it. When she looked back up, she noticed that the blonde was still staring at her. The redhead stopped the movements with her fork and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Do you think that you will ever fall in love again?" Aubrey blurted out.

Chloe couldn't answer. She looked back at her plate and started picking at her food again. Her silence spoke for her. It was enough for Aubrey to realize that her first true love would never love her back. It had to be forgotten.

But how?

It's not that easy. Nobody forgets about their first true love.

….

"_You can't just forget about your first love. You can never forget her!" Beca snapped through the phone. "I will not allow you to. Listen Aubrey, if you don't call me back, I will, I will do something. Please, just call me back_!"

Aubrey stared in awe at her phone after listening to her voicemail. She had texted the brunette about her conversation with Chloe earlier. The blonde didn't really feel like talking to Beca right now, but she still needed someone to talk to. She thought for a moment while scanning through her phone. She dialled a number and held the phone back to her ear.

"Hi, sweetheart. What's up?" A strong voice answered.

"Hi dad, nothing much. Just wanted to hear your voice." She let out a soft sigh.

"It's nice to hear yours as well. When are you coming home? We've been missing you."

"I don't know." Aubrey thought for a moment before speaking again. "Tomorrow will do."

Spending the weekend in Connecticut, her birthplace and her parents' hometown, could help the blonde set her mind off of these things. _Brilliant idea, Posen._

….

After almost 2 hours of driving, Aubrey pulled up in front of a big white house with ivy covered walls, surrounded by grass fields and trees. She got out of her car, looking around her, taking in the surroundings. The clear blue sky, the smell of the freshly mowed grass, the warmth of the sun shining down on her skin. She took off her sunglasses and smiled to herself. "Home sweet home." She muttered as she walked over to the front door and rang the bell.

A few moments later, a tall man with brown and greyish hair opened the door, smiling widely at the sight of his daughter. He opened his arms and pulled her into a giant hug. "Welcome home!"

A pile of blonde hair appeared behind him. "Honey, I've missed you!" Mrs. Posen squealed happily, pulling Aubrey away from her husband and hugging her tightly.

"I've missed you guys too." Aubrey grinned widely to the both of them.

Mr. Posen closed the door and followed the two women into the living room.

After a few hours of business talk and catching up, Aubrey and Mrs. Posen went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"So, a woman huh?" Mrs. Posen asked while cutting some vegetables. "What's her name?"

"Doesn't matter, it's not even mutual." Aubrey sighed, leaning against the counter.

"Honey, you can't expect her to love you back just like that. Don't give up so soon, give her some time." The older woman smiled.

"I don't know, mom. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"You'll need to try, sweetheart even if it won't work in the end. If she's a good friend, like you say she is, she will understand." Her mother encouraged, putting the knife down and walked over to her daughter, taking her hands into hers and squeezing them gently. "So, what's her name?"

Aubrey looked down at their hands and took a deep breath before she looked up into her mother's green eyes. "It's Chloe."

"Chloe?" Mrs. Posen frowned. "Your best friend from MBA classes?"

The younger blonde nodded. "Yup, that would be her."

….

Chloe came back home after her lunch with Amy. She took some letters out of the mailbox and scanned through them as she opened the front door. She bumped her butt against the door to shut it behind her, keeping her eyes on the letters.

"Mom! What are these private & confidential letters all the time?" She yelled as she kicked off her shoes and walked into the living room. She suddenly stopped when she saw a new face sitting on their couch. A young, dark haired man, glancing down at his hands.

Jennifer approached her daughter and took the letter out of her hands, whispering a soft "Best of luck." to her before disappearing into her room again.

Chloe frowned as Iris walked up to her. "This is Chloe." She introduced her granddaughter happily, making the guy look up, revealing his hazel eyes.

He nodded briefly. "I'm Rick." He said with a shy smile.

Chloe conjured a fake smile as she turned to her grandmother. "Grams, I need to speak to you about something, can you please come to the kitchen with me?"

"Of course." Iris smiled, turning her head to the man. "Enjoy your coffee, I'll be right back."

Once in the kitchen, Chloe grabbed her grandmother's arm and turned her around to face her. "What's this?" She asked sternly.

"What do you mean?"

"What is he doing here?"

Iris grinned widely. "Oh, he's here to get married."

"Oh wow, congratulations. Why don't you two get married then?" She said sarcastically, earning herself a slap on her shoulder.

Jennifer got out of her room and approached the two women. "Shhh, he can hear everything in there."

"I don't care." Chloe snapped. "Tell him to leave."

"Why should he leave?" Iris complained. "You are 25 years old already. If you don't get married soon, what will our community say?" Iris looked at her granddaughter like she's ashamed of her.

"To hell with what your community says or what you think! I'm not interested in getting married!" Chloe yelled at the older woman, her eyes protruding in disbelief with what her grandmother is asking her to do.

"But why not?!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "If you are so interested in marriage, why don't you get married yourself?!" she spatted a little disrespectfully.

Iris' jaw dropped as she turned to her daughter-in-law. "Do you see how rude your daughter is? It's all because of you!" she accused. The old woman raised her finger. "If you were not too busy running that stupid restaurant of yours, you wouldn't have forgotten your duties as a mother."

Jennifer scowled. "I definitely remember my duties as a mother!" her face inched closer to her mother-in-law. "In fact, you're the one who's forgetting that besides being a mother, I also took the duties of being their father..!"

"And whose fault is that?!" Iris shot back as she glared at Jennifer. The two looked at each other in disgust.

"Just stop it!" Chloe yelled angrily and the two separated to move in opposite directions. She composed herself as she tried to find the words to say to these two older women who seemed less mature than she is. "How can you talk about duties?" She pointed at her grandmother. "Isn't it the duty of the family to develop love for each other?" Iris stared blankly on the sink next to her not responding to her granddaughter's question. "Children in other families have grown up watching love, experiencing it, sharing it, while what we have only seen from you is your hatred." she stated with all honesty and feeling something roll over her cheeks. "After dad's death, there hasn't been a single day that the two of you didn't fight." She looked at her mother quickly who was looking down at her crossed arm, then looked back to her grandmother. "Who would want a bond with this broken family? Who would want to marry someone like me?" She quickly wiped her tears away and walked back into the living room.

She went directly to the young man who was sitting on the couch and stood up in front of him with crossed arms. "So, do you want to get married into this family?" She spat at the guy, making him frown. He looked at her with fear in his eyes. "Bad idea! We are all crazy in here, and we will drive you crazy too! Why don't you save yourself from all this craziness and go home!" She exclaimed before turning around and rushing out of the front door with Jennifer following her.

…..

Chloe sat down on a bench in Central Park, tears spilling over her face. The wind softly brushed through her hair as she listened to the wave sounds coming from the canal past the park. Her mother slowly approached her, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. She stroked her gently to make her feel she's there for her. "You love Beca, but she's married." She said softly. "Why did you let yourself fall in love, Chloe?" Jennifer looked at her daughter with eyes full of concern.

"Don't be silly, mom." She sobbed. "If I had known earlier, would I have let myself fall in love?"

Jennifer shook her head. "No, maybe not." She took some time before speaking up again. "But now that you know she's taken, you still love her."

Chloe pondered for a moment. "Yeah, I still do. We can't really choose who we fall in love with, can we? It just happens."

A sob escaped her mother's lips.

Chloe turned her head to her mother, quite surprised. "Now, why are you crying?"

"Because I know you very well." the older woman replied trying to stop her tears. "You will never be able to take this rejection. You will be too afraid to take a chance on love again. You will never seek for happiness again. You will be all alone- just like me." She cried, more for her daughter than for herself.

"Yes." Chloe answered in agreement, taking in the truth that her mother just said.

"What do you mean 'yes'? How can you agree with me?!" Jennifer sobbed as she looked at her daughter in disbelief. "You should be consoling me, you should be telling me; "_No mom, I will be happy, I will love again."_

"How can I console?" Chloe asked, wiping a tear away as another one escaped from her eyes. "I love her, mom. I really love her." She cried, burying her face into her hands. "She harasses me, makes fun of me, she annoyingly follows me wherever I go, and she eavesdrops on everyone's conversations. Despite all that, I still love her." She looked back up to her mother with confusion seeping into her mind. "Why do I love her, mom? Why is this happening to me? I can't take any more pain. It's too much. Don't I deserve to be loved at all?" and her voice broke at her last question.

Jennifer's heart sunk at the state of her daughter as she reached over and stroke through her hair. A part of her somehow blames herself for the way Chloe seems to unwelcome love and happiness. She held her gently and lovingly. "Everything will be alright, Chloe." She assured her daughter. "Someone once told me that, everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the yet end. You will love again. I know it."

Chloe smiled faintly in between tears. "Isn't it funny how much love hurts, but we still run to it?"

"As much as it hurts, we would be nothing without it." Jennifer said softly. She kept holding her daughter until she calmed down. She kissed her temple and bumped their foreheads together, "Come on, Chloe. Let's go home."

….

After the weekend, Aubrey came home to a whole bunch of voicemails and texts from Beca. She had left her phone at home so she could spend all her time with her family.

She sat down on her couch and went through the messages, but didn't bother to listen to her voicemails. Instead, she decided to call Beca directly.

"Where have you been, I left you so many messages?" Beca immediately said as she picked up the phone.

"I was in Connecticut, visiting my parents." Aubrey replied. "I left my phone at home, but I'm back now. If you want to talk, you can come over."

"Oh, I'll be there in 5 minutes." Beca said eagerly before ending the call.

Aubrey sighed and put her phone away. She got up and went to the kitchen to make herself some tea. She walked over to the kettle and turned it on for it to heat up. She got back inside and turned on the TV while she waited for the water to boil. Aubrey skipped through the channels, not a single show catching her attention. A few minutes later, she got up and went back to the kitchen to take a cup out of the cabinet. She poured the boiled water into the cup and put a cherry flavoured tea-bag into the hot water. She was about to walk back to the living room when she heard loud, impatient knock on the door. _Someone's so eager, _she thought knowing who exactly is on the other side of the door. She sighed and quickly put her cup on the table, making her way to the door and opening it.

Beca pushed the blonde away and walked in without waiting for an invitation. "How can you let go of Chloe this easily?" she spewed.

"Oh, hello to you too, Beca! Why don't you come in?" Aubrey said sarcastically.

"I asked you something!" Beca snapped.

"Well, let me tell you wonderful a story." Aubrey closed the door and moved over to the living room to sit down on the couch. She started, "Once upon a time there was a girl named Aubrey. Now, Aubrey has a best friend named Chloe. Chloe has a new neighbour named Beca. Aubrey loves Chloe. Chloe doesn't love Aubrey. She loves Beca. But Beca tells Aubrey that she shouldn't let go of Chloe so easily. So basically, Beca is fuckin' insane!" The blonde exclaimed with a stern face.

"I'm not insane. Your brain has just been displaced somewhere else." Beca replied matter-of-factly. "Chloe doesn't love me. She just thinks that she does."

"She thinks?" Aubrey laughed dryly. "Now what does '_she thinks'_ supposed to mean?"

Beca rattled her tongue. "I'm a new entry in her life." She explained. "I just made her laugh and smile a little, and then she thought she fell in love with me. You, on the other hand, you have known her for a year already. She just takes you for granted and doesn't appreciate you that much when she should be." Beca sat down next to the blonde. "Now, just forget all this friendship nonsense and show her some love, dude."

Aubrey made a face and shook her head.

"You haven't even tried yet. Whether she says yes or no, is up to her. But at least give her a choice. Put yourself out there and show her that she would be a fool not to love you back." The brunette encouraged.

Aubrey thought for a while and let out a sigh. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right!" Beca smiled wide, somehow satisfied that she was able to knock some sense out of Aubrey. "I mean, we're talking about Chloe here. Her beautiful eyes,"

"Her lovely smile," Aubrey added as she smiled at the thought of Chloe's infectious smile.

"Her fury," Beca continued.

"Her love," Aubrey added again.

"Her hair, when she ties them up like this." Beca used her hands to hold her hair up.

"Actually, I like her hair more when it's let down." Aubrey said.

They both stared into empty space as they kept repeating Chloe's name over and over again.

Aubrey suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Beca. "Hold on, why do you also keep repeating her name?" she eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm just encouraging you. Remember, I'm married!" Beca lied.

"And what if you weren't?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"Then I would never let go of her, I'm not an idiot like you." Beca answered and wickedly grinned at Aubrey. "It's Chloe freaking Beale."

"You're right. Now what should I do?" Aubrey asked worriedly.

"You're not going to do anything." Beca smirked. "I am going to do whatever has to be done. Leave it all to me. You just have to do as I say. I have a plan." She stated seriously.

"What's your plan?" Aubrey asked excitedly.

Beca held up 6 of her fingers. "Let's call it Operation: Six days, Girl in your face." She winked.


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N: First i'd like to say that i am so sorry for taking so long. I know it has been more than 2 weeks since i last updated.. Life is keeping me busy, and it sucks ! Also, i had written most of it a week ago, while i was at work, but i lost the file so i had to start all over again.. That took some time too, becaus i couldnt remember everything i wrote before. But now it's finally here! I love hearing from you guys, so don't hesitate to leave a review. i am open for whatever you have to say._**

**_Thanks for your patience :) P.S. Yes, ive changed my author's name from Demet to snowsann. It's the same name i use for my tumblr and instagram._**

**Day 1**

Beca and Aubrey were sitting in a restaurant right across the bull statue. They were watching the oblivious redhead standing near it, looking very impatient and checking her watch every few minutes.

"Chloe waits for me there by 6pm every day." Aubrey remarked, smiling at the thought. "Then, we walk to class together."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Beca said sarcastically. "Unfortunately, you won't go with her today." she added with a serious look in her eyes as her face moved closer to the blonde.

Aubrey's smile fell and confusion took over her face. "What? Why?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Because I said so." Beca simply responded.

The blonde sighed impatiently. "Is your plan to bring us together, or throw us apart?"

Beca raised an eyebrow and smirked confidently as she looked into the blonde's eyes. "I have this theory about girls. The more you run after them, the more they run away from you." she explained. "But if you run away from them, they'd run after you to find out the reason for the sudden change. They will experience a certain kind of confusion caused by the unexpected shift." she paused and took a deep breath before speaking again. "We have to take advantage of such confusion of the confused girl." she nodded to herself with a smug grin, satisfied with what she just said.

Aubrey frowned, "Even I'm confused."

The brunette lightly chuckled. "It's basically playing _Hot and Cold._ Just trust the expert and do whatever I tell you."

She picked up her bag from the chair beside them and took out a small earpiece and a microphone. "Put this one in your ear, and hide the microphone somewhere in your bra or something."

Aubrey glowered at the small devices on her hand. She picked up the tiny earpiece and examined it carefully then stared at Beca in confusion. The brunette chuckled and continued, "These devices are wirelessly connected to my phone, haven't you seen these in action movies? Secret agents wear them so that they can be given commands by their superiors while doing a secret mission. And we're basically doing just that. I'll give you commands that you would hear over the earpiece and you can speak to me using the hidden microphone without anyone noticing, it's a secret mission after all. Got it?"

Aubrey nodded as she put the earpiece into her right ear and attached the microphone to her bra strap. "Okay boss, we're on!"

"I've reached the school campus." Aubrey whispered to her shoulder as she looked around making sure no one noticed it.

"Good. Now relax and walk into your classroom." Beca replied.

Aubrey entered the classroom and looked around to find Chloe. A smile appeared on her face when she found the redhead sitting on their usual spot, tapping a pen on her textbook with furrowed eyebrows while scanning over the pages of her book.

"I'm inside the classroom and I see Chloe."

"Go and sit next to her. But don't speak to her."

Aubrey nodded as if Beca could see her as she made her way towards the redhead and took the seat right next to her. The blonde tried her hardest to keep a straight face and pretended to busy herself with the pen she was tossing and turning between her fingers.

Chloe looked up from her textbook as soon as she saw a familiar figure moving from the corner of her eye. She closed her book and faced Aubrey hastily. "Where were you? I was waiting for you by the bull statue for like half an hour!" she snapped and waited for an explanation. The blonde acted like she heard nothing so she remained silent.

When her friend stayed quiet ignoring her question, the redhead opened her mouth to speak again. "Why were you late? You're never late."

Again, no answer.

"Aubrey? Aubrey, I'm talking to you." She said impatiently.

"Don't look at her!" Beca said.

Aubrey stayed still.

"Look up! No... Look down!"

The blonde got confused as she moved her head up and down following Beca's unclear instructions. _What the hell, Mitchell. Make up your mind. _She settled by covering her face with one hand, as she gritted her teeth.

"Aubrey, is something wrong?" Chloe tried again as she poked the blonde on her shoulder.

"Look back at her angrily." Beca commanded.

Aubrey sat up straight and shot her best friend a sudden sharp look.

Chloe gasped and her eyes widened in fear. She decided not to bother her best friend anymore. She went back to her textbook while wearing a confused frown on her face.

…

**Day 2**

Chloe sat in class, constantly checking her watch. _Aubrey is late again._ She let out a frustrated sigh just when she saw the blonde enter the classroom.

Aubrey was about to make her way towards the redhead, but stopped her tracks when she heard Beca exclaim through the earpiece. "Don't sit next to Chloe!"

"Where am I supposed to sit then?" Aubrey whispered in between clenched teeth.

"Sit near some hot girl!"

Aubrey looked around and her eyes paused at a younger brunette who was holding a tiny mirror in her hand while retouching her make-up. Her blue eyes looked up with a friendly smile playing on her lips when she saw the blonde sat next to her.

"Hi." Aubrey greeted with a megawatt smile. The girl smiled back in recognition of her greeting.

"It's my birthday today." Beca said on the other end.

"Really? Oh, happy birthday then." Aubrey tried to whisper to the hidden microphone, failing, as it was a bit too loud. She saw the girl next to her furrowed her eyebrows as she moved a little farther from the blonde.

Beca facepalmed. "Not mine, you idiot. Tell her that!" she demanded impatiently.

The blonde cleared her throat and turned to the younger brunette. "Uhm, it's my birthday today." she grinned.

The girl's face softened. "Well, happy birthday then." She responded with a smile as she put her mirror and make up inside her purse.

"Now, make her kiss you on the cheek."

Chloe curiously watched her best friend lean over with her cheek moving closer towards the girl next to her. The younger brunette gave Aubrey a small peck as a way of greeting. The redhead's jaw dropped upon seeing the act, confused as to what was going on. _What the hell is she doing? _She thought, wondering why the blonde was suddenly behaving like an idiot.

"Did Chloe see it?"

Aubrey glanced over at her best friend and quickly turned back around. "Yup!"

"Good! Now throw an arm around that girl next to you."

Aubrey frowned and hesitated at first, but she ended up slowly wrapping an arm around the younger brunette's shoulder.

"Pull her a bit closer." she heard Beca say. "closer... a little more closer!"

Eventually, Aubrey was holding the other girl so tight that she was now trying to escape from her embrace. The older woman didn't let go unless Beca said so. The younger brunette tried to push her away once more but failed again, irritation slowly seeping through her. Finding no other option, she slapped the older woman in the face and looked at her angrily.

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle at the view of her best friend wincing as she swiftly let go of the girl beside her and started rubbing her reddening cheek.

"Oops. Over and out." Beca commented, immediately hanging up.

...

**Day 3  
**

Aubrey got out of her car and checked her watch before she started walking towards her school campus.

"Hello Aubrey."

The blonde stopped walking and gently pressed her finger against her ear with the earpiece inside. "Hi, I'm listening."

Beca sighed, tapping the woman in front of her on the shoulder. "I'm here, idiot."

Aubrey turned around in surprise. "Oh, you are physically here! Did you need to see me? Is it something important? I need to head to class."

The younger woman nodded. "Very important. You will skip class today." She grinned widely.

"Why? I want to go to class." Aubrey frowned with disappointment evident on her voice.

"Because I said so. We're going back to your place." Beca winked.

The older woman rolled her eyes and walked back to her car as the brunette opened the door of the passenger's seat. Once they reached Aubrey's house, they got out of the car and walked towards the front door.

"Your plan sucks." the blonde blurted out as she opened the door. "I haven't spoken to Chloe for three days now!"

Beca walked inside after Aubrey and closed the door behind her. "I haven't spoken to her for three days either so..." she mumbled absent-mindedly.

Aubrey glared at her. "What? This isn't about you, stupid. You were supposed to help me," she pointed out.

"Good point. This is me, helping you. There's nothing to worry about, though." The brunette smiled. She looked at her wristwatch and said, "She'll be calling you anytime soon."

The blonde's face brightened.

"But you are not going to answer it." Her face turned pale.

"Yes I will."

"No, you won't." Beca shook her head.

"Yes I will." Aubrey raised her voice as she plumped down on the couch.

The brunette followed her. "No, you won't!"

"Yes I will."

"No, you won't!"

"Ugh, why am I even arguing with you about this? How do you know she's going to call me, anyway?" she folded her arms across her chest, raising a questioning eyebrow. "I've been avoiding her for three days now, why would she want to speak to me?"

The brunette gave her a knowing look as she quirked her mouth up. "Why don't you trust the expert?"

Aubrey just gave her an eye roll in response.

"Okay, Okay. Geez Posen, relax. She will contact you because she's wondering why you've been avoiding her. And the only way to find out is  
by calling you."

"Or she just won't call, because I've been an asshole."

The brunette cocked her head. "God, you're such an optimist, aren't you? Just trust me, okay? I'm staying here until your phone rings."

She got up from the couch and headed towards to kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. "Would you like some coffee as well?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes and let out a brief sigh. "Sure, why don't you make yourself at home." she said sarcastically, waving the brunette off with her hand.

It was getting late, and the expected phone call still hasn't happened. Impatience started to take over Aubrey as she bit her nails and kept her eyes glued on the phone, hoping it would ring any second. Beca, on the contrary, started to get annoyed as she watched the older woman fidget in her seat.

"Calm down Posen, I have a feeling she's going to call very soon." Beca interrupted the silence. "But you're still not going to pick it up and just let it ring until she gives up."

Aubrey looked away from the phone and met the younger woman's eyes. "She's probably already sleeping. She won't call anymore."

The brunette shook her head in disagreement. "You really don't know anything about women, do you?" she smirked. "My best guess is... she's probably lying on her bed right now, wondering why you didn't show up in class today. She'll pick up her phone and dial your number a few times, but she'll think twice if she's really going to call you or not. After battling with herself for some time, she'll clear it and put her phone down. Her lovely ego won't allow herself to call you. Then, she will start thinking that you are her best friend, and she misses you, while tossing and turning on her bed a few times, not being able to sleep. She'll give up and decide to pick up the phone, dial your number and…"

Aubrey's ringtone suddenly interrupted the brunette's babbling. The blonde immediately reached over to pick up her phone and answered it without looking at the screen. "Chloe, I'm sorry for being an ass but I love you!" she blurted out.

Beca slapped her palm against her forehead. "Oh fuck." she hissed. Her great plan just fell into the water. Everything was ruined because Aubrey Posen could not shut her mouth.

However, Aubrey's expression suddenly changed into disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else, that wasn't meant for you." she handed the phone over to the other woman. "It's Jesse. He's asking for you." And she crossed her arms again feeling deflated.

Beca's face brightened upon hearing that. She has never been happier to know that it was Jesse who was calling her. She took the phone from Aubrey, and answered it with a huge grin on her face. "Jesse, I'm sorry for being an ass but I love you!" she said trying her best to imitate Aubrey.

"What's that all about?" Jesse asked with a light chuckle.

"Oh nothing, it's a girl thing, you know?" Beca winked at the older woman. "Why did you call by the way?"

"Well first of all, I've been trying to call your phone for ages! Why am I getting directly routed to your voicemail?"

"Battery died. Next?"

"Huh. Okay, did you take you medicine today?"

"Yes, I took my medicine." Beca bit her lip as she crossed her fingers.

"Don't lie to me Rebeca Mitchell." Jesse huffed.

"Why would I lie to you Jesse Swanson?"

"Well, as stubborn as you are, you never take you medicine unless I remind you to."

"I did take it. Now, bye Jesse." Beca cut him off, immediately hanging up.

Her crossed fingers didn't go unnoticed of course. "What's up with that?" Aubrey gestured at the brunette's fingers.

Beca quickly untangled her fingers. "Just two fingers crossing and uncrossing."

"Why do you need to take medicines?" Aubrey asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing special." Beca waved her hand and puffed.

The blonde obviously didn't buy it. She quirked an eyebrow saying that she didn't believe what the brunette was saying.

Beca sighed in defeat. "I was just feeling sick when I left this morning, so he must've gotten worried." she tried to convince her, but Aubrey's eyebrow remained the way it was. "Dude, if there was something bad, do you really think I wouldn't have taken my medicines?"

It took a few seconds for Aubrey to take in what the brunette said but she relaxed eventually, letting out a breath. "Okay, if you say so."

Beca sighed in relief. "So, where were we?" she squinted her eyes and tapped her finger on her chin as she recalled their conversation. "Oh right, Chloe is going to pick up her phone, dial your number again and delete it one last time. She will look at her screen for a while, contemplating whether to do it now or not. Then she'd give up on her ego and dial your number for the 6th time. That would be her final attempt and she'd call you for real this time, hoping you'd pick up and explain everything." she nodded curtly.

Aubrey's jaw dropped when she heard her ringtone again.

"Told you!" Beca smiled proudly.

"It's just probably Jesse again." She shrugged.

Beca looked at the screen of the phone she was still holding and turned it around to show the name displayed on the screen. "Nope, it's definitely Chloe."

The blonde's eyes widened with joy. "Oh my God, give it to me!" she reached for the phone, but Beca immediately got up and ran away, making Aubrey jump up and run after her.

"Beca, stop. Give it to me!" she yelled as she held onto the edge of the table to make a sharp turn around it.

"No, you are not allowed to speak to her. You'll ruin our plan!" The tiny brunette turned around the table to run away from the blonde when suddenly, the phone stopped ringing. They both stopped running with Beca smiling like an idiot.

"I hate you." Aubrey mumbled as she walked over to the couch to sit down, pouting like a spoiled child.

"No honey, you love me." Beca smirked. "You'll be thanking me in 3 days."

"I sure as hell hope so, or else I'll make sure you won't make it to your next birthday." She teasingly threathened.

Beca did nothing but chuckle at these words. _Perhaps I already won't make it to my next birthday._

**...**

**Day 4**

"Today is the day that you will finally speak to Chloe and you will say exactly what we've discussed, alright?" That was what Beca told her before she left for school that morning.

"Alright." the blonde responded in agreement.

When she arrived at the campus, she saw the redhead standing outside the classroom, busy talking with a friend. Aubrey started to feel nervous as she approached her best friend.

She knew exactly what she had to say but fear was beginning to take over her emotions as she imagined saying it while staring into those baby blue eyes. _Pull yourself together, Posen. You can do this._

She slowly walked over to Chloe with adrenalin rushing through her veins. She took a deep breath and puffed it out of her nose before holding out her hand to gently tap the redhead on the shoulder.

Chloe turned around but her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance at the sight of the older woman. She pushed the hand off of her shoulder and tried to walk away from her.

Aubrey grabbed her by the wrist and turned her back around, ignoring the protests of the redhead who was trying to free herself from her grip.

"Could you just give me one second? And how fast can you run from me anyway?" Aubrey smiled teasingly, still holding the other woman by her wrist.

"Just let go off my hand, Aubrey." Chloe demanded, immediately getting what she asked for. The redhead examined her for a while, studying her face and body language. She did not understand why her best friend started acting so strangely out of the blue. She has so many questions in her mind and she'd like them to be answered by now. "I don't know what happened to you," she began, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why did y-" She folded her arms across her chest and frowned at the older woman as she tried to keep her composure. "For the past three days, I've been trying…" She sighed, unable to finish her sentence. "You know what, never mind. Where the hell were you, Aubrey?" The redhead put her hands on her waist and looked at the blonde pointedly. "Where were you when I needed a friend the most?"

Aubrey sighed upon hearing the sadness from Chloe's voice. She stayed quiet for a while thinking of the words she needed to say. "I'm sorry Chloe but I'm so tired," she paused as she looked at her big, bright, blue eyes, "I'm really tired of," _Go on, Posen, say it._ "...being just your friend."

Those words took the younger woman by surprise. "What?" she asked with a glint of hurt evident in her eyes.

Aubrey started pacing slowly in front of the redhead. After a while, she halted and explained what she's feeling. "I'm tired of being just your _best friend_. I'm tired of you coming to me when you need to laugh or when you need to pour your heart out. But when you fall in love," she paused to look at Chloe, "...I'm the last person on your mind. You never see me, you never notice me, do you?"

Chloe's jaw dropped as her eyes widened in shock while taking in those words. _What is she trying to tell me now?_

"It's just not going to work anymore, okay?"

"Bre, I don't-" she started to explain but the blonde motioned for her to stop.

"No, just hear me out, Chloe." Aubrey brought her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes for a second before speaking up again. "We are friends, right?"

"Uh, yes?" Chloe answered in a way that she wasn't sure anymore.

Aubrey nodded. "An intelligent man once said that the first step to love is friendship, and so is the last step." she pointed out. "We've got the friendship part covered already. It's the middle part that's left unclear." She took a step closer to the redhead and gently brushed her hands up and down her arms. "I'd want you to take a step further and find your path... with me."

Chloe gazed into the older woman's green eyes. There was so much love in them, so much care that she's never seen before. How come she's only noticing this now? Were they always looking at her like this? She didn't know. She couldn't speak. Nothing.

"I want you to think, Chloe." Aubrey said softly. "And to think, I give you..." She pulled up her sleeve to reveal her watch. She glanced at it for a moment before continuing. "..my entire lifetime."

She lightly brushed her finger over Chloe's cheek before turning around to walk away. The redhead stared at her moving figure in awe, speechless as she stiffened where she stood, wondering what the older woman meant.

That day, Chloe knew that Aubrey had ceased to be her friend. She had become someone else. And what that 'someone else' was... well, she's not exactly sure.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: To those who sent me a few angry messages.. Yes, this is still a Bechloe fic so please calm down.. Have you ever read a book or seen a movie? It's not always sunshine and rainbows, is it? Well, same goes for this fic.. **_

_**I'm sorry for screwing with everyone's feels though.. **_

_**Anyway, here's chapter 10:**_

**Day 5**

Aubrey walked towards the statue where Chloe was already waiting for her. There was no class today but Aubrey had asked the redhead to meet her. Chloe smiled when the blonde approached her. "Hey, Bre."

"Hi sweetie, how are you doing?"

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise as the blonde went in to kiss her on the cheek. It's not like her best friend had never kissed her on the cheek before, but this time was different. It wasn't a short greeting kiss she used to get. Aubrey's lips lingered against her skin for a few seconds.

"Uh.. good, I guess."

Aubrey smiled and held out a box on her hands. "This is for you."

The redhead took it and stared at the box for a moment. "What's in it?"

"My heart." she responded, grinning widely.

Chloe looked at her dumbfoundedly.

"I'm just kidding, babe." She winked before walking away. She turned her head one more time and smiled at the confused expression of the other woman.

The redhead moved over to a bench next to the statue and slowly removed the top of the box. Her eyebrows creased when she found a familiar red dress inside of it. It was _that dress_, the one she wore on the day her heart took a hulk smash. _Why did Aubrey buy me this dress?_ She held it up and found a note at the bottom of the box. She picked it up and started reading it.

**_'The red in this dress, is the colour of my heart.  
On you, I'm sure it will look smart.  
It's not a gift.. it's something I don't know what to call.  
Are there new movies coming out this fall?_**

**_ P.S. Sorry. I couldn't think of a rhyming fourth line._**

**_ Love, Aubrey.'_**

Chloe laughed and read the note once more before putting it back into the box and headed back home.

….

**Day 6**

Aubrey was on time today. A little early even.

She's leaning against the gate of their school together with Chloe who's standing in front of her.

"What's this all about?" the redhead laughed as she held up the note that the blonde put inside the box with the dress.

"Well, I need you to do me a favor." Aubrey replied, taking a leaflet out of her bag. "I want you to join dance classes with me."

The redhead studied the leaflet. "Salsa?" she frowned in wonder.

"It's going to be my parents' wedding anniversary soon, and I wanted to do something new for them."

"And you want me to be your dance partner?"

Aubrey smiled mischievously. "You are going to be my lifetime partner after all, so why not start now?" she bit her lip.

The redhead was again caught off guard with the blonde's statement, "No."

"I was just kidding," Aubrey tilted her head and pouted, "Pretty please?"

Chloe shook her head with a smile. "Okay, but only because you asked nicely."

The older woman nodded with a wide grin. "You won't regret it."

"I hope so, or I will never do anything for you ever again." Chloe said before turning around to get inside the campus leaving the blonde behind.

"Wow, that went smoothly. Nicely done, Posen." Beca suddenly appeared from behind a wall.

Aubrey put her hand on her chest. "Because I meant it." She smiled sheepishly as she watched the redhead's figure disappear.

"Looks like you don't need the expert anymore." Beca remarked, nudging the older woman's shoulder with her own.

The blonde sighed briefly. "God, I'm so in love with her."

….

A few weeks had passed, and everything seemed to go exactly as Beca had planned. Aubrey and Chloe got along better than they had before. They practically did everything together. Taking up salsa classes, studying for school, picnicking in Central Park, going out for dinner, walking Aubrey's dog, etc... She even gave Chloe a spare key to her house for emergency purposes. Those were only very simple things, but it helped Chloe to get her mind off of Beca and it made them both happier and closer than they've ever been.

Well, except for Beca. The more days pass by, the closer she gets to the day that her heart would give up on her.

….

Aubrey opened a box she just got in the mail and found a familiar red blouse inside it. She cringed when she thought about that evening she wore this blouse to tell Chloe about her feelings. She put it aside and picked up the note at the bottom of the box.

**_'A red blouse and a skirt, dark blue.  
That's what looks best on you.  
Now match it with a nice shoe.  
Vegetarians eat tofu._**

**_ P.S. Sorry. I couldn't think of a rhyming fourth line._**

**_ Chloe'_**

Aubrey squealed happily after reading the note. Her heart started to race as she felt joy in every bone of her body. She looked for her phone in order to call Beca and tell her about it. She searched for her device, but couldn't find it anywhere until she realized that it's been in her pocket the whole time. She shook her head at herself for the effect Chloe has on her. _Damn it Posen, you couldn't think straight just after receiving a note? _She chuckled as she dialled Beca's number.

...

Aubrey opened the door and immediately jumped the tiny brunette, hugging her tightly before letting her in.

Beca stood still, wide-eyed. "Okay Posen, no more alcohol for you." She joked.

The blonde let go as she gestured to her body. "Look at what I'm wearing!"

Beca made a face. "I see it... so?"

"So, Chloe got this for me!" She bounced, clapping her hands together. "I wore it the day I wanted to tell her about my feelings, but I returned it to the store later. I couldn't stand having it around, but now it's the best thing I've ever had."

"That's great!" Beca smiled. "Didn't I say that you'll thank me later?" she grinned, crossing her arms.

Aubrey walked them to the living room and plumped down on the couch as the brunette followed her. "Yes, I hate to admit it but you are simply the best, Mitchell. Thank you so much!" The blonde beamed at her.

In the meantime, the front door opened slowly, revealing a pile of red locks peeking through. Chloe wanted to surprise her best friend, so she was tiptoeing down the hallway towards the living room making sure she's stealthy enough. She was about to go inside but stiffened upon hearing a familiar voice. She didn't mean to do it, but she overheard their conversation from around the corner of the room.

"If it wasn't for you, I would've been a real mess right now." she heard Aubrey say. "You're a genius!"

"Yeah, since birth." Beca smiled widely.

"Absolutely. You're brilliant." Aubrey smiled back. "You should write a book called _'6 days, Girl in your face:_ _The idiots guide into getting laid_'. It'll be a bestseller!" she laughed loudly.

"I know, I was thinking the same thing!"

"For serious, you really should. Your idea helped me alot! I mean, I never knew a lot of things about women before. The whole _'Play her hot and cold' _thing was new to me and I was kind of worried it wouldn't work but it did. Even if it hurt to intentionally avoid Chloe and make her feel like I was mad at her, it was all worth it. In the end, Chloe and I got so much closer and our relationship could just get even better. I just can't thank you enough, Mitchell."

Chloe has heard enough. She shook her head in disbelief. Even her best friend had betrayed her. The only person she trusted the most, the only person she thought she could count on, had broken her heart all over again. _Why is life being so unfair to me? Why does it have to be always me that get hurt?_

She slowly took a step forward with hurt painted all over her face. There was not only hurt but anger, too.

Beca saw the redhead appear behind Aubrey.

_Fuck._

"What did you say? I really didn't do anything." Beca started to mumble, "It was all you, Posen."

The blonde woman slightly tilted her head with a smile. "What? You're such a great person, you don't even want to take any credit for it?"

"No, no. Don't even think about it. I don't deserve any of it." Beca shook her head. "I really didn't do anything. It was all you and you did everything because you love her-"

Aubrey raised her hand and gestured for Beca to stop talking. "The truth is, Chloe is in my heart because of you. In every heartbeat... In every breath..."

"And in your room." Beca interrupted her, biting her lower lip as she looked down.

"What?" the older woman frowned in confusion.

Beca's eyes motioned for Aubrey to turn around.

Chloe folded her arms across her chest as the other woman slowly faced her. "Chloe? Why are you here? I.. I can explain.." Aubrey stammered.

She only responded with a glare. The disappointment in her eyes was enough to make the other woman feel guilty. She shook her head and turned around to rush out of the door.

Aubrey and Beca got up to run after her.

"Chloe wait!" Aubrey grabbed her arm to make her stop.

"Let me go." Chloe said through gritted teeth, shooting a sharp look at the blonde.

"Just listen, Chloe. Please."

"What do you want?! Huh?!" the redhead suddenly yelled, causing the other woman to let go and take a step back. "It must have been fun, right? It must have been real fun to break my little heart like that." she paused for a moment trying to hold back the tears. She couldn't allow herself to cry now. Not when they were already making fun of her. "What did you call it? 6 days, girl in your face? Wow." she clapped her hands. "Both of you should be given an award. Fantastic job, you two."

"Chloe, please listen to me."

"No, _you_ listen to me." The redhead pointed her finger and gave Aubrey a stern look. "I thought that you were my friend and I poured my heart out to you. I trusted you with my deepest secrets, my feelings, everything Aubrey! And what did you do in return? You told her everything behind my back!" She couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes anymore. "And she," She gestured towards Beca. "..who thinks that she's some God with a high power or something, decided that since she couldn't love me back, she would find someone else for me." she wiped a tear hurriedly. "And of course, the first person she thought of was you. She must've told you that our friendship is not just friendship, that we could be more than that and you got convinced? What kind of person are you?" she said disgustingly. "You don't even understand your own feelings, you don't even know what's…"

Aubrey cut her off this time. "I'm in love with you Chloe, and that's the truth!"

"No! That's not the fuckin' truth!" The redhead shouted, not caring about the people that were passing by and witnessing their drama. "The only truth here is that you have broken my heart and that you have hurt me... alot." her voice cracked.

She took a deep breath and turned her gaze to Beca. "And you! You know, I didn't have any form of happiness in my life before but at least I had a best friend. I had a best friend that I could run to whenever I needed an escape from my world. And now you've also taken her away from me..." she sobbed, turning around to walk away. She didn't want to hear anything they had to say.

Neither of the two made an attempt to follow her. How could they not be stunned after breaking her heart like that?

Chloe couldn't care less about the tears running down her cheeks as she walked away. She felt stupid about the whole thing. She should have known this was coming. It always did. Whenever she was happy, sorrow was just around the corner ready to suck it all from her.

"I love you, Chloe!" a voice suddenly yelled after her.

"I've always been in love with you!"

She unexpectedly stopped walking as she held her breath. The butterflies in her stomach twisted it into knots. Every nerve in her body felt a sudden rush. She felt sick but in a good way. The voice she just heard that told her those three simple words knocked the breath out her lungs. _Was I just imagining it? It can't be... That voice... It wasn't Aubrey's this time. It was hers. It was Beca's voice._

The redhead, now with mascara-stained cheeks, carefully turned around hoping that the other woman meant what she had said. With agitation slowly building up in her mind, she knew that despite what she did, if Beca did love her, she'd be ready to forgive her and accept her with open arms.

Her eyes found the brunette and all her hopes severely shattered once again. Beca was indeed the one behind the voice, but not the one behind the words. The brunette was reading those lines from a black diary. Aubrey's diary.

"I love you and," Beca turned the page and paused for a few seconds when she found it empty. She briefly closed her eyes and continued, "...and how I wish I could tell you that every time I close my eyes, all I can see is your face."

Aubrey loured at the smaller woman, surprised by the words she knew she didn't write in her diary. She was quite taken aback but decided to let Beca handle the situation and observed how her words affected the redhead.

"Every little thing reminds me of you. In every second of every minute of my time, all I want is to be with you. You have no idea how lonely I am when you're not around. For God's sakes, I can't stop thinking about you. Call it love or madness, it doesn't really matter. A lot of people may have loved before, but this love sets apart from any of them," she paused as she tried to fight back the tears, "because they don't have you."

A tear escaped from her eye, "I would never forget you, Chloe. I don't want to, not now, not ever. This love I feel for you will last until the day I die, and even after that. I love you... forever and always." she finished with a crack in her voice at the last sentence. She wiped away her tears and gave the diary back to Aubrey. "All that was written in this diary. Aubrey has written all of it for you. How could you even think that she would hurt you?"

No one knew that those words came out of the brunette's own heart. No one was allowed to know how much she meant every word she said. She hated the idea that she wouldn't be able to say those things to Chloe herself, but at the same time she was also relieved that she finally emptied her heart. Even if it was on behalf of Aubrey, it was a big amount of heaviness that got lifted from deep within. She glanced at Chloe for a moment and went back inside the house to leave the two women alone.

Chloe didn't know what to think. Everything happened so fast that she's having a hard time taking them all in. She stared at the woman who was looking at her with defeat in her eyes, begging for forgiveness. Her best friend. Willing to love and accept her despite the fact that she's in love with someone else.

She knew what she had to do. It was the only wise decision. She had to give Aubrey a chance. She had to at least try..

**_A/N: Yup, still screwing with the feels huh.. Let me warn you; it might go on like this for a while.. _**

**_Also, the next chapter will probably take longer, because i have holidays for 2 weeks and ive got a lot planned. I will try to make time to write, but i cant promise anything. _**

**_If you've got any questions, please feel free to PM me here or on my tumblr account (same username), i will always reply._**

**_Keep the reviews coming :) _**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! I'm really trying, but life is getting in the way. Thanks for everyone who followed/reviewed. It means a lot ! Keep them coming :) **

Chloe was standing by the railing in Central Park, watching over the canal. The sky was dark blue mixed with a little bit of red and light orange as a result of the setting sun. She closed her eyes and let the wind brush through her hair as she listened to the sound of the waves. Thoughts were running inside her head like cars during the rush hour traffic. Her father's unexpected death, her grandmother's unwavering hatred, her best friend's feelings for her, her own feelings for Beca... well, she mostly thought about Beca.

_Why is everything in my life against my own happiness? _She sighed in frustration. Her eyes flushed open when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her mother standing behind her with a concerned expression. She looked down, refusing to make any eye contact with her so she wouldn't see the redness in her eyes that were caused by tears.

"I knew I would find you here." Jennifer said softly.

Chloe glanced at the water then at her hands as she started to rub her fingers. "I'm sorry if I made you worry. It's getting late, we should go home." She wanted to take a step forward, but her mother wouldn't budge. Instead, she kept staring at her daughter, waiting for her to spill everything that had made her cry.

When she realized that Chloe wasn't going to talk, she let out a hollow sigh and opened her mouth to speak. "I want to say something to you, will you please listen?"

The redhead finally looked up into her mother's eyes, knowing exactly what she was going to say. "No, let's just go home." Her voice sounded husky as if she had been screaming all day.

"No." Jennifer simply stated. "I want to talk, and you will listen."

Chloe's eyes grew wide at her mother's statement. Jennifer never really pushed her when she didn't want to talk. Normally, she would just agree and walk back home with her.

"You love Beca, right?" Jennifer asked rhetorically.

"This again, mom?" Chloe sighed and turned around to watch the canal.

The older woman ignored her and continued talking. "You've tried to follow your heart, but she doesn't love you back. She couldn't, because she's married."

"Thanks for reminding me." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Just let me finish." Jennifer held up her hand. "You shouldn't let yourself get hurt over and over again. You're stronger than this, Chloe. You'll find someone else. Someone who will see your worth, someone who will be there for you, someone who will love you more than anything."

Chloe smiled lopsidedly. "I've already found someone like that." The words escaped her mouth without thinking causing her eyes to widen in surprise as she realized what she just said.

Jennifer was prepared to argue at whatever her daughter had to say about Beca, but she didn't expect an answer like that. She stood still, speechless for a moment with eyes full of questions she didn't know how to put into words. "What?" was the only response she managed to say.

The redhead took a deep breath and slowly turned her head to face her mother. "There already is someone like that." She repeated. "Beca helped her out to make me fall in love with her, but I accidentally found out about their stupid plan. She knew about my feelings for Beca, and yet she went to her asking for help in order to trick me into falling in love with her instead." She shook her head, irritated by the idea.

"Who is she?" Jennifer interrupted.

Chloe paused and looked down at her hands. "Aubrey." She mumbled, just loud enough for her mother to hear. When the older woman didn't respond, she looked up to her face, searching for any signs on what her mother might be thinking. Jennifer remained silent, looking at her daughter with eyes telling her to continue. Chloe ran a hand through her hair and continued speaking. "It went on for a few weeks. She started to change and treated me differently. I never really searched for any meaning behind her behaviour, but of course, deep down, I knew why she was acting that way. I just denied it, I don't really want to accept it." She let out a sigh. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

Jennifer smiled lightly and brushed a strand of hair from her daughter's face. "You won't lose her, honey." She assured her daughter. "She will only have a new place in your life. If she really does love you, she deserves a chance like that."

"I know, I thought about that, too." Chloe glanced down. "But I can't. I don't feel that way about her." She paused, "I love Beca." Jennifer opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Chloe continued. "And maybe she doesn't even love me that much. She needed Beca's help to discover and confess her feelings for me. Isn't that weak, mom?"

Jennifer placed her fingers under Chloe's chin and raised her head gently to look at her eyes. "Your father loved us a lot." She began. "But he was weak. He didn't think about us when he left." she quickly wiped a tear off her cheek. "Aubrey is not weak, darling. She just needed help to express her feelings, there's nothing wrong with that." She smiled briefly. "She's willing to accept you, even after knowing that you love someone else. That is strength, Chloe. I believe, that is love." Jennifer slowly brought her hands to the younger woman's face and cupped her cheeks. "Listen... if you don't want it now, it will be a girl's decision. But if one day you wake up 10 years later, and you find nobody by your side, it will be a woman's regret."

Chloe took a deep breath and turned around as she closed her eyes for a long moment, letting all the words sink in. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe it would help her to get over Beca and move on. _There is no harm in trying._

Jennifer moved closer to her daughter and rested her head on her shoulder. Both women stood there in silence and watched the canal together as they thought about everything that was going on in their lives.

Suddenly, Chloe's eyes widened at a realization. "Oh my God." she blurted out.

Jennifer lifted her head from the younger woman's shoulder. "What's wrong?" she frowned.

"Grams.. Grams doesn't even know that I'm into women."

The older woman relaxed and laughed lightly. "She knows. I talked to her before coming here."

Chloe raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You talked? Like.. a real conversation?"

Jennifer shook her head with a smile on her face. "Okay, we **argued** would be more like it." She admitted.

"What did she say?" Chloe was slightly nervous about the answer. Her grandmother was pretty religious after all.

"She blamed me, of course." Jennifer started. "She said that it's my fault you chose the "wrong path", because I'm the reason that you're left without a father."

"That is so not true." Chloe scoffed.

"I know." Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Try telling that to my monster-in-law."

….

Aubrey was never a fan of cotton candy. She likes to have things under her control, making sure that they are there to stay. You can't do that with cotton candy. It's just a useless heap of air to her. It looks all fluffy and tasty, but as soon as you put it in your mouth, just when you think you can enjoy the delicious taste, it vanishes. You try it over and over again, craving for more, hoping to control it this time by keeping it in your mouth, but it doesn't work. It ends up leaving an annoying vestige of stickiness on your fingers and you're left with nothing but a stick.

Her love for Chloe could be compared to that. It felt good and warm in the beginning. She thought she had everything under control as she got closer to her, blurring the line that separates her from being a friend to a lover. Just when she expected she had reached the point where she could finally get what she had desired, she ended up breaking her heart, leaving herself a trace of guilt and sadness. Just like a freakin' cotton candy, she absolutely has no control over the other woman's heart.

The blonde was sitting in her office, tapping a pen on her desk as she stared into empty space. Her mind kept repeating everything that happened the other day. It was the first time she had seen her best friend get hurt like that. It was even worse to know that she was a big part of the reason. When the phone in her office rang, she didn't even bother to force a smile on her face. It was morning and she didn't feel like smiling. Instead, she sighed and answered the phone lazily with a simple and weak 'Hello'. When a familiar voice spoke on the other end, she stopped tapping her pen and sat up straight. "Chloe, hi." She said with a little bit more life in her voice. Just a little bit.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked softly.

Aubrey bit the inside of her lower lip before answering. "I – just working. "

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Tell me." Aubrey responded quickly.

"It's kind of private actually…"

….

"Private and confidential?" Amy frowned as her eyes glanced down at an envelope in her hands. She didn't pay much attention to the name it was addressed to. Her eyes moved over the envelope quickly as she was sure she read 'Beele'.

She started to bounce up and down happily when she realized who could've sent it to her. When she was about to open the envelope, the doorbell distracted her and she went to open the door.

"Hey, you are just in time. I got a letter from Luke!" Amy squealed excitedly.

"That's nice." Beca smiled as she stepped inside. "Listen, Aubrey just told me that Chloe wants to speak to her.. _privately._" She remarked the last word emphatically.

"Wonderful." The blonde responded curtly. "Did I mention that Luke has sent me a letter?"

"Yes, I heard you." The short woman stated, a little impatiently. "And I'm telling you that Chloe is meeting Aubrey. To talk about whether or not they are going to try to take their relationship a step further."

"That's not important, Luke sent me a letter!" Amy repeated with a wide grin on her face.

Beca let out a frustrated sigh. "Will you stop saying that? I heard you the first time!"

The blonde's smile faded as she took in the other woman's glare. She turned around and slowly walked away, plumping down on the couch.

Beca felt guilty for ruining Amy's mood as she watched the woman rip the envelope to take the letter out. She approached her and pulled the letter out of her hands.

"No! Beca, give it back!" The bigger woman jumped from her seat to take back the letter. Beca held out her hand to keep the blonde at a distance as she scanned her eyes over the letter.

Amy stopped her attempts at grabbing the letter from the brunette's hands when she saw that Beca's mischievous smirk turned into a serious frown. "What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

"This is not a letter from Luke." Beca responded with a sign of shock in her eyes as she continued tracing them over the piece of paper in her hand.

Amy raised an eyebrow as she glanced down at the envelope again. Her eyes stopped at the name 'J. Beale' as a soft 'oh' escaped her lips. She felt slightly angry and sad at the realization that Luke hadn't sent her anything.

…..

"Mom, I'm going to take a walk. I need some fresh air. " Chloe yelled from the corridor as she put her shoes on.

"Okay, honey." Jennifer responded from the kitchen. "Don't take too long, I'm making lunch." she heard her daughter yell something back before the door slammed close. The older redhead walked over to the fridge and took a can of feta cheese out before putting it on the counter. Not long after that, she heard the doorbell ring. "Chloe must have forgotten something." She mumbled to herself.

Jennifer quickly dried her hands and walked towards the door to open it. She was surprised to see Beca standing there with an envelope in her hand. "Beca, what are you doing here?" she asked out of curiosity. When the brunette handed her the letter without saying a word, she held out her hand to take it with a frown on her face. The frown was soon taken over by a pair of wide eyes as they traced over the words 'Private and Confidential.'

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read it.." the brunette explained. "Amy thought it was.."

"It's okay." the redhead cut her off. "I trust you."

Beca nodded understandingly. "So your husband..?"

"Yes." Jennifer cut her off again. She was desperately trying to fight back the tears, but couldn't manage to do so. She wiped her tears and took a deep breath as she felt the tiny woman stroking her arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. The redhead relaxed into the other woman's embrace. Jennifer pulled back after a while, quickly wiping her tears away. "Thanks for that." She sniffed.

"Anytime." Beca responded with a small reassuring smile. "Want to talk about it?"

Jennifer looked at her as she realized they were still standing by the door. "You already know the biggest part, so I might as well tell you everything." She commented. "Please, come in." she stepped aside to let the tiny woman in.

….

Later that day, Beca found herself at Aubrey's place. They were making plans for the evening. The blonde promised herself that she was going to take this chance to tell Chloe everything about her feelings... her real feelings this time.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Beca asked.

"You've done enough, Becs." Aubrey pointed out. "And I'm very grateful for that, but I need to do this on my own."

The younger woman nodded. "Alright, just don't screw this up. This is your last chance." She nudged the other woman playfully with a wink.

"Don't worry." Aubrey smirked. "I will send a cab to pick her up and then it will take her somewhere wonderful where I'll be waiting. I've got everything ready." She nodded briefly in satisfaction. "Everything will be perfect."

Beca sighed in relief. She's happy that Chloe decided to take a chance on Aubrey and if everything goes well tonight, she can be satisfied that Chloe won't be alone once she's gone. She will be with someone who cares about her, adores her, and loves her above anything else. Although, somehow, there's a part of her that wishes for something else.

"Becs, do me one last favour." Aubrey requested snapping Beca back to reality, "Could you go to Chloe's house to make sure she's getting ready?"

.….

"She's ready!" Amy squealed, running down the stairs.

Everyone was waiting there as if someone was getting ready for a prom or something. Chloe walked down slowly after Amy, with all expectant eyes on her, except for Iris'.

As soon as Chloe set foot on the stairs, the old woman turned her back with a disapproving expression on her face. However, nobody could care less about her opinion.

Beca couldn't help but admire the stunning woman before her eyes. Chloe was wearing the red dress again.

"Are you ready?" Jennifer interrupted the silence. "The cab is waiting."

"I think so." Chloe cocked an eyebrow. "You guys are making me nervous. We're just going to talk."

"Uh-huh." Beca drew her attention. The redhead's heart skipped a beat so she quickly looked away and continued walking towards the front door.

"Wait." Beca exclaimed just before the woman could walk out of the door. Chloe turned around and was caught off guard at their sudden proximity. She felt her stomach twist as Beca moved her arms around her neck to take out the hair clip that was holding her red locks together.

Beca pulled back and looked into her baby blue eyes with a nervous smile. "Much better," she smirked upon seeing how lovely the redhead was with her hair down. Chloe let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She stared into the shorter woman's steel blue eyes for a while. Her heart started to ache upon seeing so much pain in them. _Why is she in pain? If only she didn't belong to someone else, I'll do whatever it takes to take her pain away, _she thought as she helplessly continued looking at the tiny brunette. But then, she thought that maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe it was just a reflection of her own pain that she was seeing. Both women stood there gazing into each other's eyes, drowning in each other's stare, as if nobody else was around.

It wasn't until the outdoor breeze slammed the door behind Chloe that made her snap out of it. She quickly turned around and opened the door to leave, while Beca kept staring at her vanishing figure until the cab drove off.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: In this chapter, we're going to solve some family problems and ... yeah, you'll see ;)

**_"Daddy, why is my hair red? All my friends have blonde or brown hair. Only mommy has red hair like me." A 9 year old little girl questioned her father whilst he was tucking her in bed._**

**_The man smiled down at his daughter as he sat down on the chair next to her. "That's because you're special, sweetie." He replied as he gently stroked her hair. _**

**_"Why does that make me special?" the little girl asked curiously. _**

**_"Well..." he paused for a moment and looked into her sleepy–yet–bright blue eyes. "The colour red represents energy, passion and action," He explained._**

**_The girl raised an eyebrow at her father. "What does that mean?"_**

**_"It could mean anything. Like confidence, desire, strength, courage, excitement, determination," He leaned back onto the chair. "But it could also mean things like anger, fear, pain, violence or resentment." He sighed lightly._**

**_The little redhead stared at her father in awe, completely bewildered about the fact that one colour could mean so much. _**

**_"But, do you know what the most important thing about this colour is?" He smiled when his daughter shook her head. "It represents love." He said. "One day, you're gonna grow up and meet someone you'll love, then you'll get married so that you two can be together... forever."_**

**_"But I already love you, daddy. I always want to live here with you."_**

**_The man laughed lightly and leaned over to kiss the little redhead on the forehead. "I will never leave you, princess. I love you, too."_**

_You lied, dad. You left me. _Chloe sighed as she looked down at her red dress. Her father may have lied about never leaving her, but he was right about this colour. This dress has witnessed her confidence, excitement and desire when she decided to tell Beca about her feelings; her pain and anger when her world fell apart at the news that she was married; her fear about losing her best friend; her strength and determination to let go of her feelings for Beca and give Aubrey a chance. But most importantly, it has witnessed love... her love for Beca and Aubrey's love for her. It wasn't exactly what she had imagined love would be like, but she knew that the blonde would do everything to make her happy, and that was enough for now.

The redhead was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't realize the cab had come to a stop. It wasn't until the cab driver cleared his throat that made her snap back to reality as she realized they had arrived.

"It's already been paid." The driver remarked when he saw Chloe rumbling through her purse. The redhead thanked the man and got out of the car. After the cab drove off, she took some time to look at her surroundings. Her brows furrowed at the sign with **"Chloe Beale: this way"** written on it. The sign had an arrow drawn below it pointing to the direction of a big theatre. She slowly walked towards the entrance and pushed the door to go inside.

It was dark and silent when the redhead stepped in. Chloe looked around and listened carefully for any sound, but there was nothing. "Hello? Anyone here? Aubrey?" She called out, but there was still no noise other than her own footsteps.

She took a few more steps forward when suddenly, one of the spotlights went on and revealed a blonde woman on stage holding a microphone with both hands.

The redhead squinted her eyes letting them slowly adjust to the bright light. "Aubrey?" The blonde woman didn't respond. Instead, she heard a few musical instruments play in the background. She had no idea where they came from, but before she could question it, Aubrey lifted the microphone closer to her mouth and started singing.

_Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling_

_Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand_

_Do you feel the same_

_Am I only dreaming_

_Is this burning an eternal flame_

Chloe heard a few voices singing back up to her, but she couldn't see them either. She stood there watching her best friend sing for her.

_I believe it's meant to be, darling_

_I watch you when you're sleeping_

_You belong with me_

_Do you feel the same_

_Am I only dreaming_

_Or is this burning an eternal flame_

_Say my name_

_Sun shines through the rain_

_A whole life_

_So lonely_

_And then you come and ease the pain_

_I don't want to lose this feeling_

Another spotlight went on and pointed directly at the redhead who quickly brought her hand before her eyes. She slowly removed her hands from her face as her eyes got used to the light. She continued listening to her friend.

While the instruments kept playing in the background, Aubrey stopped singing and started talking. "I know that you don't have any love to give me today." She said to the microphone as she started taking a few steps forward. "But I'm sure that one day you will have, and I'm willing to wait for that day." The blonde slowly approached the stairs to get off the stage and walk towards Chloe. "I believe with all my heart... that special day will come." She was now standing in front of the redhead, looking in her eyes. "Until then, I want you to have faith in my love, because right now it's more than enough for the both of us."

All the lights in the theatre started to turn on one by one, revealing all the rose petals on her path. Aubrey picked up a single red rose showing it to her. "I wanted to give this to you before, but I didn't have the chance to. Please don't reject them today," she held the rose out for the other woman to take it as she continued to speak. "Chloe... will you give me a chance to be your girlfriend?"

Chloe closed her eyes for a moment to let the words sink in. Of course, she had been expecting this question. She had even prepared herself for it, but to actually hear it for real took her by surprise. What was she going to say?

….

An hour had passed and everyone was still waiting for Chloe to return home. They were all excited about the outcome of their 'private talk'. They knew very well what was going to happen and they all wanted the redhead to make the right decision and choose to finally be happy. She deserved it after all she's been through.

The doorbell rang and Jennifer got up to open the door, surprised to find Jesse standing there. "Hi Jesse, come in." she smiled, moving aside.

Jesse stepped inside, smiling, "Good evening, Jennifer. Beca didn't come back home, so I got worried. Is everything alright here?"

"Yes, Chloe just hasn't returned yet." The redhead explained, guiding the man into the living room where everybody was having conversations with each other on whether Chloe would accept it or not.

Jesse didn't understand why it was such a big deal. He just smiled to everyone, greeting them with a wave and a soft "hi" before taking a seat beside Beca.

A few moments later, Beca's phone vibrated and flashed Aubrey's name on the screen. The brunette quickly picked up the call, "Hey Aubrey, is everything alright?"

Every person in the room became silent and stared at Beca's expressions, searching for any signs on what Aubrey was telling her. To their astonishment, the short woman had her poker face on during the entire phone conversation. Beca hung up after some time, making everyone worried as she started to shake her head and put her phone away.

"Beca..?" Jennifer pleaded.

The brunette looked at her and a smile found its way to her lips. "She said yes!"

A big sigh of relief escaped Jennifer's mouth but was quickly replaced with a smile. Her daughter was finally going to be happy again.

Amy jumped excitedly towards the brunette and hugged her as she was happy for her friend. Beca was smiling big, ignoring the feeling of her heart crashing down to her stomach. Only Jesse could recognize the pain in his best friend's eyes. She glanced at him and nodded curtly to let him know she'd be fine before looking up at the ceiling to hold back her tears. This was her last wish after all.

….

The next morning, the two women were in the kitchen making breakfast. They haven't spoken much after Chloe returned home last night. Jennifer put the knife down on the counter which she was using to cut the peppers and turned to her daughter, "We should invite her family for dinner," she smiled.

The younger redhead raised an eyebrow. "Mom, we've only started dating yesterday. There's no rush."

"There is indeed no rush, I don't want them in my house." Iris walked in and gave a disapproving look at the two redheads.

Chloe sighed and turned to her mother. "You know what? Just go ahead and invite them." She shot a small grin towards her grandmother which made her even angrier.

"I have been trying to find you a perfect husband for so long, why would you rather ruin your life with such a horrible decision?" Iris hissed.

"It's not horrible, Grams." The redhead tried to stay calm. "She's my best friend and she loves me more than any of those stupid men from that marriage bureau could."

The old woman turned to her daughter-in-law. "Do you see what you've done? First, you ruined my son, and now my granddaughter." She looked at Chloe as if she was sick and needed to be cured. "You're ruining everybody's life!"

Chloe let out a long sigh trying to calm herself down as she held out her hand to stop her mother from fighting back and walked towards her grandmother. "Grams, listen. It's nobody's fault," she started, "Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm gay?"

"Because it's wrong." Iris deadpanned.

The redhead shook her head. "Not everything that's a little different from what you're used to is wrong." She explained. "Somehow, you fear the unknown. Well, everybody does, actually. So I totally understand you. It's like how people get scared of anything they touch in the dark, because they don't know exactly what it is. Will it hurt them? Is it dangerous? You feel more comfortable and secure with the lights on because you're able to see everything you're familiar with." Chloe explained, "That's why you've never accepted Lily as your granddaughter."

Iris opened her mouth to protest, but Chloe quickly cut her off. "I'm not finished yet." She said. "You hold onto what you believe and I respect that, but it's not completely right. These things limit us and our opinions. It's stupid to be afraid of what we've yet to see and know."

Being someone who never lets anyone win over her, the old woman stared at her granddaughter and tried to protest. However, instead of any protests, she ended up saying "Fine, invite them."

Chloe's eyes widened for a moment. It was the first time that Iris ever agreed with her in an argument. "Okay, good. That's settled then."

…..

It wasn't hard to convince Aubrey's parents. They were more than happy to meet the family of the one who got their daughter head over heels in love.

Dinner went better than everyone expected. The Posen family was warm and friendly towards everyone. Even when Iris made inappropriate comments every now and then, Mr. Posen managed to make Lily and Benji laugh about his cheesy jokes. After dinner, they got into a conversation about Mr. and Mrs. Posen's wedding anniversary, which reminded Chloe of her Salsa performance with Aubrey.

"Yes, it's our wedding anniversary in 2 days." Mrs. Posen confirmed. "You are invited to our party as well! Bring whoever you'd like."

"That sounds great. We'll definitely be there." Jennifer smiled.

Aubrey took a glance at Chloe who was sitting across from her and remembered someone who wasn't there today. Someone she was grateful to have met, "I totally forgot to invite Beca!" she blurted out.

Chloe felt her stomach twist upon hearing the brunette's name. A part of her was wishing she wouldn't come to that party, while the other part of her really wanted her to be there.

"Who's Beca?" Mr. Posen wondered.

The redhead didn't mean to do it, but her mouth helplessly started speaking on its own, "It's m- our neighbour and friend." Chloe corrected herself.

"Yes, she's an amazing friend." Jennifer added. "She helped us through a lot. We can't thank her enough."

"Oh, I see." Mrs. Posen turned to her daughter, "Of course, invite her too."

"She's alright." Iris commented. "She kinda reminds me of my son though."

"Oh yes, Aubrey told us about him," Mrs. Posen slightly frowned. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

They should've seen that question coming, yet they were still taken aback and nobody knew what to say. It was silent for a moment and Jennifer looked down on the table like her plate suddenly seemed very interesting. Mrs. Posen's frown grew bigger so Aubrey turned her head to her mother and opened her mouth to speak, but got cut off by Iris again.

"Heart attack," she said quickly. Jennifer looked up with anger and confusion plastered on her face.

"Oh, heart attack." Mrs. Posen cringed.

"I'm just waiting for Chloe and Benji to settle down," Iris explained, "Then I can peacefully leave this house."

"What about Lily?" Mr. Posen asked.

Iris waved the words off dismissively as if the man insulted her. "She's not ours."

"Grams!" Chloe glared at the old woman.

"Lily is as much as ours as Chloe is!" Jennifer quickly cut in, pulling the little girl next to her into a side hug, "And my husband did not die of a heart attack." She corrected as she looked at everyone around the table, "He committed suicide."

Everyone was surprised by her confession. Everybody's eyes slowly dropped to the ground, not knowing what to say or how to respond. Well, everybody that is except for Iris. She glared at the woman with fire burning in her eyes.

…..

A few hours later, Jennifer was cleaning the house after the Posens had left. The children and Chloe were in bed and Iris was still glaring at the woman disapprovingly.

"Was it necessary to tell them the truth?!" She finally asked.

The redhead stopped with what she was doing and turned to face her mother-in-law. "You can't base a new relationship on a lie."

The old woman laughed bitterly. "You couldn't even handle your old relationships, how would you know how to handle new ones?"

"Relationships are not handled, Iris... they are maintained."

In the meantime, Lily had walked out of her room as she was rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. She heard yelling from the dining room so she slowly approached the stairs and sat down to listen to the argument.

"And what do you know about relationships, anyway?!" Jennifer remarked sardonically.

The old woman pointed her finger at the redhead. "Now listen to me, you failure of a daughter-in-law. I.."

Before she could finish her sentence, Jennifer cut her off.

"I will only be your daughter-in-law when you finally consider Lily your granddaughter!"

"Lily has never been my granddaughter, and she will never be!" Iris raised her voice.

Jennifer couldn't stay calm anymore as she raised her own finger and pointed at the old woman in front of her. "That's enough! You're crossing the line here, woman!" she exclaimed.

"Why?!" Iris slapped her hand away and shot a stern look into the redhead's eyes. "If you are so fond of telling the truth, learn to listen to it as well. Lily is not my granddaughter. She is not a part of this family. She is just a damn burden which you thrust upon this family by adopting her."

Lily's tears started rolling down her cheeks as she listened to their heated argument. She clamped on the stair support and witnessed the hate in her grandmother's eyes... the old woman's hate towards her.

"A burden which took away all the happiness in this family, the peace, even my son!" The woman continued. "I hate her! I hate that nasty little..."

"Enough!" Jennifer interrupted, "If you say one more word about her, I will make you regret it!"

Lily couldn't bear the hate anymore. She got up and ran down the stairs towards the front door and left the house. She crossed the road and started knocking at the door for dear life. "Beca!" she cried, "Beca, please help me!"

The door flew open and a concerned brunette looked down at the little girl. Beca got on her knees and pulled her into a tight hug. "What happened, sweetheart?"

Lily couldn't reply as her sobs grew louder. Instead, she took Beca's hand and pulled her towards their house.

Beca stepped inside and heard what was going on. She and the tiny girl were at the corridor, listening to the two women argue as she tightened her grip on Lily's hand.

"We are still paying for my son's mistakes." Iris said. "The first mistake he made was marrying you. The second was adopting that girl."

Beca let go of the little girl's hand and stepped inside unexpectedly. "He made a third one, too." She interrupted the old woman.

The two women turned their heads to Beca in confusion. "What?" Iris frowned. "Who the hell are you to interfere in our family matters?"

"No one," Beca shook her head. "Just a voice that should've reached you a long time ago." She stepped in closer and stood next to the redhead. "There's a truth that you should've realized long ago."

"Beca..." Jennifer pleaded with a tear rolling down her cheek.

The brunette wiped it away. "No, Jenny. Please let me tell her." She said before turning back to the other woman. "Since you are so interested with the truth, I would like to tell you one, too."

Iris raised an eyebrow at the brunette but didn't bother to interrupt her. She was curious about what she had to say.

"It's about your son's affair with another woman."

The old woman's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the young woman in front of her.

"An affair he hid from all of you," Beca continued. "But unfortunately for him, he couldn't hide the result. Do you know who the result was of that affair?"

"Beca, please..." Jennifer cried.

The brunette took the redhead's hand into hers and gently squeezed it. "Jenny, it's alright." She assured her and turned back to the old woman again. "The result was Lily."

Tears were running down Iris's wrinkly cheeks. Her face remained shocked as her wide eyes stayed fixated on the brunette.

"Lily... the girl that couldn't get accepted by her own mother, was accepted by your daughter-in-law, Jennifer." She gestured towards the redhead who had buried her face onto the brunette shoulder, sobbing. "Jenny... who could've seen the face of the other woman in Lily's face. She could have seen her husband's mistake and betrayal in that face. But she didn't. What she chose to see were those innocent and unfulfilled eyes." Beca quickly wiped a tear off her face. "She chose to complete those eyes by filling them with love."

Beca guided Jennifer towards the couch and sat down with her, throwing an arm around her shoulder as she continued to speak.

"Your son understood her pain and anger, but couldn't understand her acceptance." The brunette gently squeezed the other woman's shoulder. "Jennifer's strength and kindness reminded him of his own weakness, every day, every hour, every minute. It was that feeling that took his life away. Not Jenny."

….

**_Dear Jennifer,_**

**_I know, in these last six years, I have only enquired about Lily and never about you. But in this letter, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to you. Thank you Jennifer. Thank you with all my heart._**

**_Women are built to forgive the mistakes that their husbands make, but very few women have the courage to accept the mistake itself and shower love to such a degree that it doesn't remain a mistake. You accepted Lily when I, her own mother, couldn't accept her. For this, I will forever remain indebted to you. They say that when a man makes a mistake, he also possesses the ability to pay the price for it. But Jennifer, all these years you have paid for a mistake that was not yours in the first place. All that because of me. _**

**_If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, please do. I am truly sorry, Jennifer. I've caused you a lot of pain. _**

**_I'm sorry. _**

Teardrops fell on the letter as Chloe read it the next morning. Jennifer decided that she also had the right to know about this now. She wiped her tears, noticing her grandmother slowly approaching Jennifer who was staring into empty space beside her. Iris sat down and put her hand on the redhead's shoulder, feeling the guilt spreading all over her body. All these years she had blamed this woman for accepting a child not of her own, when her own son was the one blame. All these years she considered Lily a burden, when she was just an innocent girl abandoned by her own mother.

"He was a good man." Jennifer sobbed. "It was just one stupid mistake."

Iris looked at her with apologetic eyes as she quickly put her arms around the redhead and pulled her closer. "I know. He was a good man." The old woman cried hard as well. Chloe put the letter aside and hugged her mother from her other side. All three women had never felt so drawn to each other. Forgiveness and clarity found their way to their hearts. There was finally love in this family. Lily's perfect little world was now complete. At last, they are now united as one, big, happy family.

…..

The day of the wedding anniversary had arrived. The venue was crowded with family, friends and people from work. The walls, stage, ceiling, chairs and tables were all decorated by a famous decorator. A bright beamer was used to project a huge '30th Anniversary' in artistic lettering to the wall behind the stage.

As Chloe, Jennifer, Iris, Benji, Lily, Amy, Beca and Jesse stepped inside, their jaws dropped at the sight of it. Everything was so perfectly beautiful.

Aubrey saw them looking around and quickly made her way to her friends. She welcomed everyone with smiles and hugs, saving Chloe for last.

"Ready for the dance, babe?" she winked at the redhead.

Chloe smiled meekly. "I thought I was. Until I arrived here, that is." She gestured at the people around them. "I didn't know it was going to be this crowded."

"Don't you worry, I'm by your side." Aubrey smiled, going in for a kiss to the other woman's lips, but was met by her cheeks as Chloe turned her head sideways. The blonde felt a pang of pain in her chest but ignored it, understanding that the redhead wasn't ready for it yet. She reached over to hold her hand, slightly nervous on whether she would reject it or not. But when the redhead didn't pull away, she relaxed and guided her girlfriend to the backstage to prepare themselves for the show.

About an hour later, Aubrey and Chloe took their places on stage. Music began playing and the two women started moving. Everyone gaped at them as they moved their hips and turned in circles in each other's arms. But every single time the two got their faces close to each other, the redhead would look away. Aubrey, however, never took her eyes off of her. Beca watched them dance and ignored the hurt inside her as she tried to replace it with relief. Seeing the love and care in the blonde woman's eyes as she held Chloe is comforting enough for her. _Nobody else could make Chloe happier than she could._

Reality hit the brunette when all the guests started applauding. She shook her head and conjured a smile on her face as she clapped her hands together.

The two women bowed down and Chloe turned around to walk off the stage. The blonde remained standing, took a microphone and started speaking.

"Mom, dad," she started, "There will never be enough words to tell you how grateful I am to be your daughter. You've supported and loved me through everything. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but you taught me how to be strong in dealing with all of them. You guys taught me that it was okay to make mistakes, as long as I learned from them." She looked at her father. "Never a failure, always a lesson. Right, dad?" she smiled. "You guys taught me so much in life, I can make a never ending list of those things, but I'm just going to point out the most import one," she breathed in deeply, "You taught me how to love." She pointed at Chloe who was now standing beside her mother in front of the stage. "I love this woman so much, I'd literally give my life to make her happy. I hope that one day, she will look into my eyes and I will see the same glow she sees in mine." She paused for a moment and took another deep breath before turning her head to her parents again. "Happy anniversary, mom and dad!"

Mr. and Mrs. Posen raised their glass and mouthed a 'thank you.'

"Okay." Aubrey continued. "Well, being rich has a lot of advantages," she winked at Amy and gestured towards the man in the DJ booth. "Hit it, Luke!"

The DJ blew a kiss towards Amy who jumped up and down in happiness as he started playing his music.

They were all having a good time, including the redhead. Everybody was dancing to the music, drinking, laughing... just enjoying the party on their own. Beca felt good to see so much happiness radiate around her. She managed to fulfil her last wish. It was at least, worth celebrating.

However, her smile faded soon after. She felt an unbearable pain in heart as she stumbled a few steps back, gasping for air and clinging to her chest. _Not now, not yet._ She thought to herself. Using the little strength she had left, the woman stumbled towards the bathroom and finally allowed herself to drop down on her knees. Everything around her started to spin and to fade. It was getting darker as she kept gasping for air.

Eventually, she didn't have any strength left to fight her eyes from closing. "Beca!" she heard a voice from a distance. At least, it felt like that to her. She didn't have the power to open her eyes and see who it was calling her name. "Beca, do you hear me?" that was the last thing she heard when her weariness took over.

It was black.

No hearing, no sight.

Only darkness.

**A/N: Whoop, thats it for today.. I think there's going to be 2 or 3 more chapterss. ending is near! Please let me know what you think so far and how you'd like it to end :) i already have an ending planned out, but i'd love to know what you guys are expecting****.**

**Also it's not gonna be long before Chloe is gonna find out about Beca's heart problems now! BUT will it be too late, or not? We'll know in the next chapter!**

** Thanks for following ! I am very grateful :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Beca slightly opened her eyes to the sound of some beeping. She wasn't fully conscious yet, but heard voices around her that sounded like she was under water. A blurry face welcomed her view with more gargling that slowly started to sound clearer. "…worried about you." She could finally make out the last part of the sentence, assuming that it started with 'I was so..'

"Jesse?" she mumbled in a barely audible voice.

The man nodded. "I'm here Becs." He assured her. "You're going to be fine."

Beca looked around her, but couldn't find anyone else besides Stacie. She felt slightly hurt about the fact that nobody visited her aside from Jesse.

"Don't worry, everyone still loves you." Stacie chuckled. "It's just that, nobody knows you're in the hospital."

"Yeah, the bathrooms were located near the exit so nobody noticed when I carried you out of there last night. We thought it would be better to keep it to ourselves. No need to get them worried on their happy day." Jesse added and pointed at the tall brunette. "I'm going to get coffee, do you want some?"

Stacie shook her head. "No, thanks."

When the man left the room, she turned to Beca and glared at her. "What are you doing to yourself, Becs?"

"What do you mean?" Beca frowned as she pushed herself up by her elbows, leaning against the back of the bed. "Wait, these aren't my clothes," she teasingly complained as she looked at the shirt she was wearing.

Stacie sighed. "That's mine, I had an extra shirt. Jesse said you hate wearing hospital gowns so he asked me if I had a spare shirt for you to use."

"But it's pink."

"Now, don't change the topic. I told you to take it easy. You're overdoing yourself." Stacie said rather anxiously. "If Jesse was too late to notice your absence at that party, I wouldn't have been able to save you. You could've…" she trailed off with a sigh as her eyes plummeted to her shoes. It was still a sensitive topic for her. The tall brunette was accustomed to people dying in the hospital and never felt less sad for anyone, but of course it was going to be way harder when it's a good friend of hers.

"I'm going to die soon anyway, at least you wouldn't need to worry anymore." Beca responded with a smirk.

The doctor rolled her eyes at her friend, still not being able to understand how she was still so carefree about it. "I'm not even going to continue this conversation with you." She declared. "It was supposed to be my day off since it's my wedding anniversary, but instead, I went here to take care of you. Unfortunately for me, you don't even seem to care about it, so if you don't mind, I'm leaving to do what I had actually planned for the day."

Beca grinned and pursed her lips as she raised her eyebrows at the tall brunette who walked towards the door.

The woman was about to step outside when Jesse approached them. "Hey, where are you going?" he frowned at the woman.  
Stacie gestured towards the tiny brunette who was grinning widely in her hospital bed, something that Stacie didn't see often as a doctor. "This woman doesn't need to be taken care of. I'm leaving her to you." She softly tapped the man on his shoulder before turning around and leave the room.

...

"It's too expensive, Bree." Chloe furrowed her brows as Aubrey moved behind her, putting a necklace around her neck. "I can't accept this."

The blonde turned the other woman around and admired her for a moment. "It really looks lovely."

"But Aubrey..." the redhead tried to protest but got cut off immediately.

"You look perfect." Aubrey smiled. "Go look at it in the mirror."

Chloe pursed her lips and slowly nodded in defeat. "Fine." She said as she turned around to find a mirror whilst the blonde looked at other necklaces at the jewelry shop. The redhead looked around and saw a mirror on her left. When she was about to approach the mirror, a tall brunette unexpectedly stepped in front of it, checking her own reflection. Chloe moved closer and stood behind the woman as she waited for her turn. She looked up and saw the reflection of the woman in front of her through the mirror. She froze when she recognized her face. It's...

"Stacie, right?" Chloe blurted out, kicking herself inwardly.

The tall brunette turned around, "Yes?" and looked at her rather confused, "Do I know you?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." The redhead held out her hand. "I'm Chloe. A friend of Beca's."

"Oh my God! You are Chloe?!" Stacie smiled as she shook the other woman's hand. "Yeah, Beca talks a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope." The redhead joked.

"Of course." Stacie assured her.

Aubrey approached the two women talking and greeted the tall brunette.

"This is Aubrey. She's my, uh, girlfriend." Chloe introduced the blonde. "Aubrey, this is Stacie. Beca's…" she didn't even need to finish the sentence for her to understand what the redhead meant. Chloe tried to keep a smile on her face as she looked at how beautiful Stacie was. A part of her felt jealous that she hadn't met Beca before she did.

"Oh! Nice to meet you." The blonde smiled.

"Nice to meet you, too." Stacie shook her hand. "So, you guys are shopping?"

"Well, trying to..." Aubrey gestured towards her girlfriend who didn't want to accept anything from her.

"Me too." The brunette chuckled. "It's actually our anniversary today. So I thought, why not spend my wife's money?"

The redhead suddenly started to feel nervous, "So, uh, is... Beca here too?" she stammered.

Stacie looked at her quizzically, "Beca? Why would Beca be here?" she turned her head to the right. "Cynth, honey, come here a moment. I want you to meet someone." She called towards a smaller woman with short, brown hair who was now making her way over towards them. "Cynthia, these are Beca's friends, Chloe and Aubrey." She gestured towards the two women. "And this is Cynthia Rose, my loving wife." She smiled as she placed her arms around her wife hugging her from the side.

"Your wife?!" Both women questioned at the same time, rather shocked. "But," Chloe and Aubrey looked at each other for a moment with the same state of confusion plastered on their faces then looked back at Stacie, "What about Beca?"

The tall brunette eyed both women suspiciously, "What is it with Beca?" she asked obliviously, not knowing what lies Beca had been telling the two women. Well, except for the part that they were not allowed to know about her heart condition.

"We actually met through Beca." Cynthia Rose said as she glanced at Stacie, smiling at the memories. "She's such a great friend. You know, always full of life and always wanting to make people happy..." her smile slowly faded when she remembered about their friend's condition. "But now..it's -"

Stacie cut her off abruptly, "Uhm, Cynth.." as she tried to grip her shoulders tightly.

Cynthia ignored her wife's interruption. "Baby, just let me say this." She begged the taller brunette who quickly shook her head.  
"What..?" Chloe asked confused as she looked at the two women alternatingly. "What's going on?"

Cynthia Rose turned to the redhead and opened her mouth to speak, ignoring her wife's nudges and protests. Stacie was worrying her lip knowing she's maybe too late in doing anything to control the situation. "Now, when I look at her.." Cynthia started, "I just can't believe that she doesn't have much time left." The sadness in her voice was very evident.

"Shit." Stacie facepalmed herself after hearing her wife spilling the beans.

"It's hard to believe that such a big heart would ever stop beating," she sighed sadly. "But it's really nice to know that you guys are there for her in her last days."

Chloe felt her heart sink. _In her last days.. Last days?! No.. no, this can't be true. This can't be happening. It can't be. Beca is not dying!_ she thought as she took a few steps back helplessly.

Aubrey turned her head to her girlfriend, eyes widened in shock at the news that was just dropped on them. Beca was dying. She saw the redhead shooting her an apologetic look with her beautiful baby blue eyes now covered in tears. The blonde understood that Chloe needed some time alone and nodded slowly before watching her turn around and rush away. Even she can feel her heart breaking.

Stacie quickly took out her phone to call Beca and let her know what had happened as Chloe left the shop. The redhead started walking to wherever her legs were taking her. Her world stopped moving as more tears blurred her view. She kept walking and didn't care about the people she bumped onto on her way.

"_She doesn't have much time_." She kept repeating these words in her mind as she thought about all the things that Beca had ever said to her.

**_"Listen, just live! Be happy! Smile! Who knows, tomorrow may never come." _**

**_"Stacie is my wife." _**

**_"How I wish I could tell you that every time I close my eyes, all I can see is your face."_**

**_"This love I feel for you will last until the day I die, and even after that. I love you... forever and always."_**

Everything was slowly falling into its place. Every piece of the puzzle is now making sense. Chloe had never experienced this much pain. Even getting rejected by the love of her life does not come close to how much she's hurting right now. Rejection didn't seem so bad after all, knowing that Beca loved her for so long but couldn't act on it for the sake of her happiness. How is it possible to love someone so much that you're willing to sacrifice your own happiness?

...

After receiving Stacie's phone call, Beca quickly got up from her hospital bed and pulled out the IV needle that was attached to her wrist.

Jesse immediately jumped up from his seat as he tried to stop the brunette. "Beca, you need to be careful with yourself!"

"It's fine, Jesse. I'm going to die anyway." The brunette waved him off. "Let me at least take care of this first." She turned and started running, ignoring the stings in her heart. One hand clinging on to her chest, she kept running out of the hospital towards the street. She stopped and leaned against a lamppost as she tried to catch her breath._ I have to do this. I have to do this for her!_ She encouraged herself as she clenched her teeth ignoring the pain. With the little strength she got, she held out a hand to stop a cab.

...

Aubrey had just arrived home when she heard someone pounding on her door. As soon as she opened it, she got pushed aside and the sadness on her face turned into anger. "You lied to me!" Aubrey spat at the brunette whose hand was still pressed against her chest. "You said that you didn't love her. You said that you.. are not in love with her!"

"No, I'm not." Beca simply responded, shaking her head.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Stop crossing your fingers, it's not going to change reality!" She let out a frustrated sigh. "You know what? I give up! She will never love me back. Not now when she knows that you love her, too."

"She will!" Beca protested. "She just needs time, and that's something that I don't have." She hissed the last part of her sentence through gritted teeth, furious about the fact that she couldn't get more time.

"Time won't change anything. She will never be able to forget you, Beca. She will never be able to move on from you." The blonde felt a tear running down her cheek.  
Beca laughed sarcastically. "Wow, and here I was, thinking that you really love her."

"I do love her, she's my life!" Aubrey scoffed. "But she just…" she trailed off, looking away as she quickly wiped her tear.

The brunette cut her off. "If she's your life, then how can you give up on your life so easily?"

"You don't understand." The blonde stated indignantly.

"I do understand!" Beca cut her off again. "Don't look for any excuses. We both know I'm no good to her. When she's got me, she will just lose me again. You have way more time than I do!" she glared at the blonde woman and waited for a response. When she didn't get any, she turned around and headed towards the door.

"What would you do if you were in my place?" The brunette heard Aubrey yell after her when she was about to walk out the door.

Beca took a step back and turned her head to the other woman, looking straight into her eyes. A mix of sadness, longingness, and hopefulness were blazing in those weak steel-blue hues, "Oh, you have no idea how much I wish to be in your place."

The blonde was at a loss of words as she felt something in her chest shatter. Sympathy covered her face as she watched the brunette turn back around and walk away.

_Life is so not fair._

_..._

Beca got out of a yellow cab and made her way towards Central Park. She knew it would be the only place the redhead would go to at times like these. The brunette was jogging through the park and looking around, grateful that it wasn't crowded. A few turns with her head and there she was, standing by the railing, crying onto her hands.

She slowly approached the redhead and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Chloe quickly wiped her tears and turned around to face Beca, not looking very surprised like she was already expecting her arrival. She gazed at the brunette, and wondered how her meer presence still took her breath away. Her heart started to race as she fought the urge to touch her, afraid that she might be very delicate. The redhead slowly brought her hand up and found its way to the other woman's chest. She carefully put her hand over her skin in order to feel her heartbeat. The brunette watched her as she tried so hard to hold back the tears. Upon feeling the contact, she couldn't help but feel the redhead's warmth and put her own hand over hers.

"You love me so much that you want to leave love behind for me, even after you go..." Chloe sobbed, "even if it's through someone else."

Beca quickly pulled her into a hug, but the redhead started fighting her off. "Why do you love me so much?" she cried, fighting into Beca's embrace.

The brunette closed her eyes as tightened her hug, trying to keep the redhead calm, "I don't love you, Chloe." She heaved a deep sigh, "I'm not capable of loving anyone."

It took a while before Chloe decided to stop fighting her off and leaned against her embrace. She kept crying with her head buried in the younger woman's collarbone. Beca held her tight and lovingly stroked her hair with her fingers as she let her sob in her arms. Chloe's cries slowly turned into whimpers and her whimpers turned into heavy breathings. She didn't want to let go. She could stay like this forever.

The brunette pressed her lips onto the other woman's head as she slowly breathed in her scent. She looked at Chloe with those saddest eyes as she guided her towards the nearest bench where they both sat down.  
It was silent for a while but the comfortable kind. They just sat there, delighted with each other's embrace as they thought about everything that was happening.

"You know everything about me." Chloe suddenly said, pulling away as she looked into the other woman's eyes. "You know about me, my family, my life... but I don't know anything about you."

Beca watched her lips talk as she slowly gazed at those baby blue eyes, "What would you like to know?" she asked.

"Everything." The redhead replied. "Your childhood, your parents, your friends..."

The brunette took a deep breath and thought about what she could tell the older woman. "Well.." she started as she looked at her nervous hands, "I've spent most of my childhood with Jesse. We were neighbours and we grew up together, until a few years ago when he had gotten a job offer in New York. He's always been my only friend... my best friend besides my mom." She looked up at the sky, feeling her eyes watering.

"What was she like?" Chloe took one of Beca's hand into hers and rested her head on her shoulder as she played with the brunette's fingers.

Beca sniffed and smiled at the memories. "She was just like Jennifer, actually. A loving and caring mother who would do anything for the happiness of her own daughter." She stared into the distance as if she could see her past being projected in the air. "She's the only one who supported me with my music. I used to DJ at clubs, playing my own mixes every night. It was always my dream to channel my emotions through music so creating mixes became my passion. Unfortunately, my dad didn't understand it so he treated me like an inferior. I was useless to him." She rolled her eyes at the mention of her father. "Jesse supported me too, of course, but not like the way my mom did. She really wanted me to pursue it, because she knew how much it meant to me."

Chloe lifted her head again to look at the other woman, "You're a DJ?" She asked rather impressed.

"Was," the brunette chastised. "As soon as I found out about..." she brought her hand to her chest, "I had to stop." The redhead looked at her with sympathethic eyes. "But I still mix songs," Beca quickly added, smiling, "I've even made some for you. I wasn't planning on giving it to you, though." She looked at their entwined fingers, "But I guess that has changed now."

Chloe's eyes widened in amusement, "You made mixes... for me?"

Beca nodded, "I did. I will give it to you when I get home," she smirked wearily.

The redhead was practically melting upon hearing that. No one has ever made her anything and eventhough she still had not listened to those songs, knowing that she has inspired Beca to create those mixes was more than enough for her. Slowly, she leaned in closer towards Beca's lips.

"Chloe?" Beca swallowed seeing what the redhead was trying to do, "Uh, what are you doing?" She stayed still, breathless as Chloe's face moved closer.

Eventually, their faces were inches apart that they could feel their breaths brush against each other's lips. They stayed still, unable to form coherent thoughts but feeling each other's gravity pull them together. The redhead closed her eyes as she moved a little closer. Her heart was in her throat as she held her breath, waiting for their lips to collide. She inched closer, but felt a finger press against her lips, making her eyes flash open.

Beca's mouth twisted, watching the disappointment on the redhead's face. She cupped her cheeks and kissed the older woman on her forehead, "We can't." She whispered painfully.

The redhead let out a defeated sigh, "I know." She glanced down and took both of Beca's hands into hers and squeezed them gently. Her thumbs traced the back of the brunette's hands before looking into her eyes, "Can I...", she paused, trying to muster some courage, "Can I... at least get one day with you?" she pleaded. "Just one day, Beca. You and I, together. I promise to go back to Aubrey after that. But please, just give me... one day."

Beca worried her lower lip as she tried to find a way to reject those lonely, blue eyes without hurting them. If she would agree, it would be harder for them to say goodbye. Even though she really wanted to, it wouldn't do them any good. A lot of things can happen in a day and she's not sure if she'll be able to handle it._ No, I shouldn't. I really shouldn't._

"Fine." she said in a beat as she stiffened for a moment when she realized what she just said. However, she quickly relaxed seeing the glow in the redhead's eyes.

_One day. _

_Just the two of us. _

_One whole day...with Chloe._

What could possibly go wrong?

...

_What if I stay forever?_

_What if there's no goodbye?_

_Frozen for a moment here in time,_

_...You and I tonight_


End file.
